07/22/2025
It will take more than federal land to solve the U.S. housing crisis.
The U.S. is currently facing a shortage of nearly 4 million homes, a deficit that has built up over more than a decade. This persistent undersupply has driven home prices higher and made homeownership increasingly unattainable for many Americans.
The GOP proposes selling federal land to boost housing supply, but most of this land, particularly that managed by the Bureau of Land Management, the largest federal landholder, is located in the West and Alaska, where housing markets are less strained. The Northeast, which faces an 830,000-home deficit, has minimal federal land. This geographic mismatch limits the proposal’s impact on the areas with the most severe housing shortages.
💡 Where we are today: It would take 7.5 years to fix the housing shortage at the current pace of construction.
How much time it would take to close the housing gap if 2024 building trends continue:
South → 3 years
West → 6.5 years
Midwest → 41 years
Northeast → No improvement in gap
Federal Lands Report: https://rltor.cm/9nwcj9
Housing Supply Gap Report: https://rltor.cm/yt215a
