- 32% of surveyed renters say housing affordability is a top-three issue when it comes to deciding which presidential candidate they’ll support. That compares with 17% of homeowners.
- The economy, inflation and health care are the most common top-three issues for survey respondents as a whole.
- 52% of surveyed homeowners say they’re better off financially than they were four years ago, compared with 44% of renters.
Nearly one-third (31.6%) of U.S. renters say housing affordability is a top-three issue when it comes to which candidate they’ll support in the upcoming presidential election. That compares with 17.1% of homeowners.
The survey findings in this report are from a Redfin-commissioned survey conducted by Ipsos in September 2024. The survey was fielded to 894 U.S. renters and 805 U.S. homeowners aged 18-65. This 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 1 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.”
Renters and homeowners answered similarly on most issues, but housing affordability was the exception.
The leading concern among respondents as a whole was the economy, with nearly half (46%) of all 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%).
| Share of overall respondents who ranked it a top-three issue | Share of homeowners who ranked it a top-three issue | Share of renters who ranked it a top-three issue | |
| The economy | 46.0% | 49.4% | 43.7% |
| Inflation | 40.4% | 42.2% | 39.5% |
| Health care | 26.3% | 25.7% | 27.7% |
| Housing affordability | 25.1% | 17.1% | 31.6% |
| Crime and safety | 23.5% | 24.3% | 23.5% |
| Immigration | 21.6% | 25.1% | 18.7% |
| Protecting democracy | 20.5% | 22.5% | 19.8% |
| Gun violence | 15.8% | 15.8% | 15.3% |
| Access to abortion | 15.2% | 14.8% | 15.2% |
| Climate change | 13.5% | 15.0% | 12.9% |
| Freedom of speech | 11.7% | 11.8% | 10.4% |
| US’ standing in the world | 8.8% | 10.5% | 6.8% |
| US involvement in foreign wars | 8.1% | 9.0% | 7.1% |
| Access to gender affirming care | 3.6% | 3.9% | 3.1% |
Many Americans broke into homeownership during the pandemic thanks to record-low mortgage rates, but many others were priced out because housing prices surged due to sky-high demand. Now, elevated mortgage rates are exacerbating those high prices and making it difficult for first-time buyers to afford a home. That’s one reason renters are focused on housing affordability during this year’s election cycle, Redfin Chief Economist Daryl Fairweather explained. It’s worth noting that starter-home prices are lower than they were a year ago but remain well above pre-pandemic levels.
Just over half (52.1%) of surveyed homeowners said they’re better off financially than they were four years ago, compared with less than half (44.2%) of renters. That discrepancy is partly the result of soaring housing prices that helped homeowners build a lot of equity, Fairweather said.
Harris voters were slightly more likely than Trump voters to rank housing affordability as a top issue. One-quarter (25.1%) of respondents who plan to vote for Kamala Harris ranked housing affordability as a top-three issue, compared with 20.4% of respondents who plan to vote for Donald Trump. That’s likely because Democrats are more likely to live in expensive coastal areas.
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