Nearly a third of voters say housing affordability may affect their presidential pick, survey finds

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FILE-A for sale sign is displayed outside a home for sale on August 16, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images)

Housing is one of the top issues in this year’s election and with rising mortgage rates creating challenges for some to buy a home, a recent survey shows that this could influence who some voters select as the next president.

Redfin released a survey revealing that 32% of renters say housing affordability is a top three issue when it comes to determining which presidential candidate they will support, compared to 17% of homeowners.

A major concern among respondents in general was the economy, with 46% of respondents listing it as a top three issue. Next came inflation (40.4%), health care (26.3%), housing affordability (25.1%) and crime and safety (23.5%).

According to the survey, 52.1% of homeowners polled tell Redfin that they’re better off financially than they were four years ago, compared with less than 44.2% of renters.

Redfin noted that voters supporting Vice President Kamala Harris were slightly more likely than Donald Trump voters to rank housing affordability as a top issue.

Approximately 25.1% of respondents who plan to vote for Harris ranked housing affordability as a top three issue, compared with 20.4% of respondents who plan to vote for Trump.

To collect data for the survey, Redfin polled 894 U.S. renters and 805 U.S. homeowners aged 18-65. The report focuses on responses to the following question: "How important will each of these issues be in your choice of which candidate to support? Please rank, with one being the most important issue." Respondents were asked to rank a list of 14 issues. If they ranked an issue 1, 2 or 3, it is considered a "top-three issue."