her book "smashing statues" sunday night at 8:00 p.m. eastern on q&a. you can listen to q&a and all of our podcasts on the new c-span now app. ♪ host: good morning and welcome to washington journal. the cost of housing in the united states is skyrocketing. with houses and rental prices going up all around the country. the covid-19 pandemic, along with supply chains disruptions is making it worse. with the cost of land, labor and lumber, -- and the trend of moving out of metro areas and consolidating households because of covid-19 is ending, leading to a shortage

of affordable apartments and houses. our question to you this morning , is housing affordable in your community? we will open up special lines this morning. renters, we want to know what you are seeing out there. you can call (202) 748-8000. new homeowners, if you recently bought a house or condo, we want to know what your experience is like. your number is (202) 748-8001. if you are looking to buy a house or condo, we want to know what you are seeing in your community. your number is (202) 748-8002. if you don't fit in any of those categories but you want to talk about our topic, your number is (202) 748-8003. keep in mind, you can always text us at (202) 748-8003. we are always reading on social media, facebook and facebook.com , c-span -- facebook.com/c-span,

on twitter at c-span wj. we want to know what the housing market is like in your community. what are prices on houses right now? is rent getting out of control? we want to know what you see. before we start this conversation, let's see what the data says about the housing market of the united states. we will start with a story from bloomberg that sets the stage for our conversation. the bloomberg story says the u.s. housing market shifted into overdrive during the pandemic, with more than 6 million homes selling in 2020 one, despite skyrocketing prices in many cities. from miami, and 18.8% increase. in denver, 18.6 percent. phoenix, 32 -- 30.2%, it is a

national phenomenon. the median selling price for a home in november, $416,900 was nearly 25% more than it was in february of 2020. in the early weeks of 2022, there is no sign that cutthroat bidding and rising prices won't continue. the total inventory homes on the market dipped below 300,000 nationwide in early january. less than half of the inventory available before the pandemic. that is from bloomberg. that is what the housing market looks like right now. let's talk about what the rental market looks like. i know many of you out there rent instead of owning homes. what is the rental market like right now? there is a story on cnbc.com that talks about the rental market. here is what cnbc says. if you are a renter in a big city -- were a renter in a big city during 2020, chances were you could land a sweet apartment

deal, assuming you kept your job through the offset of the covid-19 pandemic. many people were leaving cities like new york and landlords were discounting apartments dramatically. now, that is reversed. many of the people who left are coming back. and those who moved in with their parents or other family members are looking for their own place to call home. by the end of 2021, the number of renter households increased by about 870,000, compared with 2020. the overall rental vacancy rate has dropped to the lowest levels since the mid-1980's. the rental market out there is also getting tight. a tight rental market means prices will be going up. there is conversation already going on in washington about what housing looks like right now in the united states.

here is joel griffith at a senate baking -- banking hearing, summarizing the rising cost of housing for homeowners and renters. >> families are feeling the impact of the steep rise in home prices, stranding -- spanning the pandemic. over the past year alone, prices are up close to 20%. residential property prices in the united states, adjusted for inflation, are now 2% below the all-time record levels of 2006. home prices are increasing far faster than families income growth. the home price to median income ratio is now -- despite low-interest rates, the mortgage payment hit 32 per -- 32.7% this fall, the highest level since 2008.

in a return of mortgaging even close to the historical average would increase borrowing by 50%. of course, renters -- apartment rental costs have jumped more than 15% nationwide, in numerous cities, not just on the coast. host: let's see what america says about housing, affordability in their own communities. let's start with joseph, who is calling from new york. joseph, good morning. caller: good morning. i just -- i just want to say that it is rough right now. host: you still there, joseph? caller: yes, i'm here. host: what would -- when you say it is kind of rough right now, what do you mean?

caller: i'm a single father, taking care of my daughter for 13 years. i lost my baby moms. i'm in the rescue house. i'm on the hud. it is getting rough. the pandemic -- i lost my job because of the pandemic. now, the landlords are starting -- they want their rent. i really don't know what to do. the hospital i was working at, there is a new virus out there now. host: were you able to get any government assistance during the pandemic to help you with your rent? caller: not really. they slowed down the rent a little bit because they knew we could not pay for it. they told us just to hold on. i've been trying to get to the government so i can get the landlord some money.

right now, i'm in a hotel right now because they are renovating the bathroom. i just lost my mom last year. i didn't have nowhere else to go. my sister had to put me in a hotel, me and my daughter. now, we have to go back. when us guys don't have no place to go, with the housing thing, it is getting rough out there. i know a lot of young folks that don't have nowhere to go and don't have nowhere to stay. older people too, they don't have nowhere to stay. host: what part of new york are you in? are you in brooklyn, manhattan, long island? where are you in new york? caller: newburgh, new york. host: how much would an apartment go for in newburgh? caller: you talking about a one bedroom apartment, you are talking $1200 a month.

that is just a one bedroom apartment. i'm not talking about the electricity or anything. a studio apartment over here, you will pay at least $700 a month and it is like a little closet. you don't have anywhere to put a tv or a microwave. landlords charge so much for a little space. host: let's go to mitchell who is calling from washington, d.c. mitchell, good morning. >> i'm looking at the background. i live close to the background of where you are, the southeast quadrant of the capitol building. i can see the building from here and two bedroom apartments here are almost $5,000. you have young educated people

sharing one bedroom apartments and couples sharing studios, anywhere from $2000 to $5,000 for that range. it is like the intense competition for the well educated, well-placed. as a landlord, everybody is going after the same group of people. that community was blighted 30 years ago. i think it is amazing. i also understand that there are not opportunities for many who came up in the same community, just having watched the developing. host: mitchell, are you a landlord or are you a renter? you said two bedrooms are around $5,000. what do you think one bedroom

would go for in washington, d.c., today? it depends -- caller: it depends. one bedroom apartments in the same place could go anywhere from $3500, $3000 and up in this particular location. host: let's go to duke, who is calling from stonington, maine. duke, good morning. caller: good morning. the housing problem here and all over the country is ridiculous. the prices are going through the ceiling. i don't know how families, especially young ones, can afford to have a place. i remember my grandmother telling me in the early 1970's when the waltons first came on, she said i'm not going to live to see it but i think you will and i know your kids will and i know your grandchildren will, but it will take two to three

families under one roof to keep one place going. i think that is where we are heading. i'm afraid with these prices and stuff, we will have another housing bust at some point down the line, where everybody will be so upside down. they will lose their places and they can't afford to live. host: do you own or rent in maine? caller: i own. host: what do you think the average price of a single-family home is where you live for the average price of a one bedroom apartment where you live? caller: i will say probably an apartment is somewhere between $1200 and $1500 a month. i will say the average house would probably sell for around 250,000 to 350 thousand dollars. somewhere in that area. host: do you think that is affordable for people in your community or are housing prices out of reach for most people? caller: i think they are out of

reach for quite a few. we are a fishing village here. there are so many rules and regulations and stuff. i think a lot of people will get out of it. i don't know what is going to happen. i am concerned for the whole coast of maine, because of the regulations and stuff and regulations -- and the cost is so high, everywhere. host: is that something you think government should be involved in? housing is a private industry. should government be involved in making housing affordable? caller: i don't know. i don't like the idea of government having their nose in the middle of everybody's business in the first place. that is a hard one to say. i don't know. host: i don't know is also a good answer. let's go to lanita, who is calling from fort payne,

alabama. good morning. caller: yes, good morning. how are you this morning? host: i'm fine. go ahead. caller: i have a short to lead up to my riddle -- rental party where i rent an apartment. first off, my husband passed away and i had no family left. i could not take care of the place. i moved into a senior living apartment complex. i started out and my rent was $278 an hour. -- $278. it went up to $331. i got taken off of disability and put on social security. i got a good raise. me and my rent jumped from 330 one dollars to $434. this is a senior living property. there is no -- there is no upkeep or change in things. on top of that, last week, i was

asked for a six month balance in my checking account. she wanted six months of balances from my checking account. to me, that is none of her business. rent should be where it stops. host: when you said she, who is the she? your landlord? caller: she is the manager of the apartment complex. host: ok. keep going. caller: a lady across the street does not have a checking account. she has a card and they put her money on the card. the same manager asked her for that card and her pin number, to that card. now, that is getting a little bit too into our business. she has no right to anybody's pen number to anything.

i pay with a check every month. she pays with her -- she goes to walmart and gets a money order with her check card. this landlord asked for her pen number. i don't know what that is all about. i don't understand it, yet. we are seniors. we are here to live out the rest of our lives, we hope. i think it is just -- the price of groceries, you have to stop and realize most of us senior citizens can't eat certain things like younger people can. therefore, we are having to pay more for what we need to eat. i was going to buy some cream of chicken soup yesterday. it went from $.98 to $1.18. that is a good jump for a can of soup. host: let's go to melinda, who

is calling from grafton, new hampshire. good morning. caller: good morning. i am with mountainside properties. i can give you a good perspective of what is going on in new hampshire. host: go ahead. caller: since the pandemic has started, it has been difficult for providers to find homes in the state. we are struggling with the inventory. sellers are making out good, unless they don't have a place to go to. guys -- gas prices are higher. the only thing i can see that could alleviate this problem is to have people build more homes. we need contractors out there, building more homes. that is basically it. that is how i see it. host: from your perspective, there are not enough homes available for the people who want to buy them and can afford

to buy them, or is it that there are not enough people out there who can afford to buy the homes? caller: what i see is that people who have money who can afford the higher priced homes that are anywhere from three inch of $50,000 and up, those homes are available. for the majority of people who can't afford that, they can't find a home for 150 to maybe $300,000. it is just not there. we definitely need more affordable housing and i'm sure throughout the whole nation. host: whose response ability is it to make affordable housing available? is it something the government should be doing? is that something the private industry should be doing? whose response ability is it to make sure that there are homes available that people can afford to buy? caller: maybe they can work together in conjunction.

the funding can come from the state or from federal funds. but somehow, this is something that can alleviate the problem with the lack of housing, if they can work together. i know that the contract -- contractors are extremely busy. even when we need repairs, people are having a hard time having an electrician come out to their homes because they are so busy. we need more contractors out there and know that building materials are expensive. in the long run, it should help a lot of people find affordable housing. host: from your perspective, who is to blame the situation we are in right now? whose fault is it? caller: i don't think it is anyone's fault. i think the pandemic through us. i don't think we were prepared for it. so, i just think it culminated. host: at the senate banking

hearing earlier, about homeownership, senator bob menendez asked about the racial homeowners gap in the united states. here is a piece of that conversation. >> there is a massive racial homeownership gap in this country, which is a serious problem. owning a home is a key to building intergenerational well and reducing racial wealth and inequality overall. according to the census bureau of data, the white homeownership rate is about 74.4%, compared to 43 .1% for african americans and 48 .4% for hispanics. so, miss martin, what are some of the barriers to minority homeownership and how do large commercial landlords mitigate or exacerbate those obstacles? >> i can respond to that. what we have discovered in northeast ohio is that lending

disparities are real. we are finding that the majority and minority of neighborhoods do not have equal access to credit. essentially, we still see redlining going on in those neighborhoods. we also see very disturbing trends where black borrowers, even high income black borrowers are having less of an opportunity of getting mortgage capital than moderate income white borrowers. so the research is startling. it is very clear, as stated in some of our areas, there is almost no opportunity for homeownership. it has become a completely investor dominated market. there are few to no mortgages for parts of our community.

>> these practices are often concentrated in low income and black and brown communities. the effect is that they are extracting wealth from these communities and to buy a home, you need wealth. you need to build up money to make your downpayments and stable income. these practices, because they put so much pressure on the families that live in these homes and are renting these homes, they feel like they are in a constant state of fiscal emergency. that is very difficult, under those situations to have the kind of stability that lends itself to the purchase of a home. host: let's see what some of our social media followers are saying about the issue of is housing affordable in your community? here is one post from facebook that says no. what is difficult is the lack of available housing. there are few apartments and homes available so the prices are going up and the competition is fierce.

here is a tweet that said shouldn't the federal government do something via aid or regulations to ensure affordable housing for americans in america before engaging in foreign wars? another tweet says material prices are outrageous. why wouldn't -- wooden sheet rock, especially. a landlord says reasonable rent in minnesota. in larger areas, it is so high that people on minimum wages cannot afford rent. one last text says rent skyrocketed because buyers cannot afford first time starter homes. inflation can be blamed on the biden administration. we want to know, is housing affordable in your community? let's go to joe, who is calling from maine. joe is in the market to buy. joe, good morning. caller: yes, good morning ken

thanks for taking my call. i am in the market to buy. like a previous color mentioned, i am an investor. the houses here in maine, five years ago i bought my home, the value has doubled. it has gone from $200,000 to $400,000. i could have my house sold in a day. that is just the market. i bought my first home in massachusetts in 1990. the interest rate was 10%. the markets changed with the interest rates. they never made lower income housing available. there were no programs. they did some in their 30 years in between.

my point today is there is no lower income market. the income you pay has not kept up with the housing affordability. host: let me jump in for a second. you said you were looking to buy a house for an investment. do you see yourself taking your house -- a house away from someone who needs to buy a house to live in? caller: i would buy land and build a house. i am looking for the investment. i can't afford to buy a $400,000 house. that is not my intention. i am looking at the land but the land is tripled, also. those acres now are $100,000. this is in the last two to three years. this isn't ten-year to go.

now, you can't find anything under $300,000. another woman from new hampshire said $150,000. if you see a house for $150,000, it is gutted inside. and it has to be torn down, usually. there are houses that need work, contractor housing or what ever they call it -- whatever they call it. if you buy land and you will be a developer, they have some control and demand that you make affordable housing. because, what is happening here is on the coast. these investors from massachusetts, new york buy up a place, tear it all down and build the marina with $100,000

homes or whatever, they are not building any affordable housing. host: let me jump in one more time. you said you were looking to buy land as an investment, do you think housing is a good place to invest money in right now? we live through the housing -- lived through the housing bubble crash, about 10 years ago, when we saw all of these housing prices crash and many people lost not only their money but the place they lived in. do you think housing is a good place to put your money? caller: what i will say is that fact -- that the fact you need a house is never going to go away. that it is a good investment, i will say yes. i would also buy an acre and put full houses out. i would love to do that. i am 63 years old.

i am not in a starter home position. absolutely not. i'm not looking to make $1 million. there is a company out there now, i won't say their names, but you could find it out. they are building houses complete, ready to go, electric planning, hooking up to a line for $50,000. they come on a truck. you unload them and you don't -- you can actually do it yourself. you get a contractor, the house is up and scanned. host: let's go to elizabeth, who is calling from hartsdale, new york. elizabeth recently bought. caller: we bought a house in florida. it was difficult to find a house rate as soon as you saw a house, especially in new york, it would be gone in an hour. so, we decided to do -- we were

on the computer, on realtor.com. as soon as we saw house, we called the listing broker who was listing the house. and we lucked out. we were the first people to look at the house. and we put an offer in and we were very lucky, with only $1000 over asking. this market is so crazy. our offer was accepted and that was in december. and we put our house here in hartsdale. that was in a week. we are moving in two weeks, to florida from new york, because it is less expensive. we are retired. and the taxes and the energy prices are so crazy here. it seems like everybody is moving to florida. host: how hard was it to find a place in florida? is it a house, is it a condo?

where are you living in florida? what type of house are you moving from? what type of house are you moving to? caller: it was so difficult. we started in july. you are right, you are on the computer and you are doing those zooms where they walk through and the broker has a phone and you see it on your phone or your computer. it is really very difficult. i ended up flying down for three days to see the house, the first house. it did not work out. it was just -- it was very noisy. so then, we had been looking, looking, looking. i stayed up all night on the computer, seeing something would come up and the next day it was gone. we found the house and put an offer in. you have to put an offer in. i flew down.

i flew down for two to three days. we liked the house. it was a done deal. hopefully we will still like the house. we bought in a community where they have activities, they have a pool and golf and that kind of thing. we are kind of excited and very nervous because we are moving from new york to a completely different state and it is hard. you have to get the mover and get rid of your stuff here. i am very stressed. it is very stressful. we think we are lucky with our house here. three to four years ago, this house that we are in would have sold for a lot less but we were the only house on the market.

we had four offers. host: are you seeing more in florida than new york, -- saying more in florida than new york? is the monthly mortgage more or less? caller: the house here is probably almost double the house in florida, that we are selling for. because florida is a lot less expensive. new york is crazy. they keep going up and up, doubling the electricity and gas, it is crazy. host: let's go to rick. rick, good morning. to the callers that called in --

caller: to the callers that called in, main, you're correct -- maine, you're correct. a house today is $185,000. senior citizens who have lived here all their life have social security income of $1200 to $1400 a month. the inflation requires an increase in municipalities. they can barely live on social security. a refugee in the united states of america gets $3032 a month. their rent is automatic direct deposit. there is a food and clothing allowance. they have a better foodstamp and welfare support system. yesterday on channel seven, they announced the chief was given a brand-new home in the state of

idaho, at the expense of the american taxpayer. they have to live out on the street during the daytime and can go into shelter at night. they fund a refugee program and the daughters of dreamers. to the father who called in earlier who is living in a hotel with your daughter, my heart goes out to you. get on the phone and tell them it is time to wake up and listen to the voice of america. jesse, thank you for your hospitality and god bless this great, republican country. host: let's go to diane, who is calling from key west, florida. diane recently bought a house. good morning. caller: good morning. i bought a house 23 years ago, thank god. i paid $161,000 for my house.

i believe that this was designed. this whole steam about the mortgage being so expensive. it started in 2007, 2008 with the mortgage bus. at that time, people were buying second homes and were refinancing because the interest rates were zero. and then, people started to play the game. they started to use houses after investments. in key west, they are building -- they say it is affordable housing but it is unaffordable. we live in florida. we have florida salaries and you can pay $3000 to $5,000 to rent an apartment. also, they have countries to protect for schemes like this. in norway, if you are going to buy a house, you have to live there year-round. in key west, 60% of the homes in key west are second homes.

meaning that people are not living there year-round. it has a devastating effect on our communities. they are not contributing to local businesses. we don't have enough workers. businesses are dying to get workers. it has such a devastating effect because of this mortgage crisis that happened in 2007, 2008. i think that the government definitely has to come in. because, the developers, the realtors, insurances are way out of line. everything is increasing. the only way that we can be saved is if the government intervenes and we have rent control. if people are forced, you can only buy a house if you live there year-round, so that they don't become investments. another thing is the environment is taking -- making an impact. when these developers make a proposal to build affordable housing projects, they build the

maximum number of units and disregard for the environment. now, we have so much traffic. we have so much pollution and the water, the impact is devastating. there is no regard for the environment. the only excuse to pay us anything that the developers want in the florida keys is that they say there is a housing crisis. but, you cannot build your way out of this. you have to have rules and regulations and everything has to be turned around. host: let's go to lacey, who is calling from bristol, tennessee. good morning. caller: good morning. yes. let's say my wife and i, we purchased a home about three years ago. not really too much of a home. but between, we only get a little over $2100 a month. our house payment alone is like

500 something dollars, counting utilities -- not counting utilities or anything like that. it is a struggle for us to even eat and pay our bills, our utilities and things like that. you know, that stimulus that we got, it was a shot in the arm for us. i don't understand. with what the fella said earlier about immigrants, it is hard for me to understand something like that. things can get higher and more expensive. i don't know what people like us are going to do, except in the in a nursing home or something like that. i don't understand it at all. how in the world are people -- can people accuse joe biden?

there is no superman that could have stopped what is going on right now. that is my opinion. host: during a hearing earlier this week, renters from across the country spoke about housing issues, including affordability and availability. here is part of what a renter from montana had to say about her situation. >> business practices have been openly questioned in state legislatures and congress. they are questioning the misuse of fannie mae loans to fund these predatory private equity groups like haven park. they drain local communities unaffordable housing and harm families, using funding created during the new deal to stimulate and sustain affordable housing. in 2019, a press community partnership received national awards for their outstanding affordable housing work. two months later, their subsidiary dealt with enterprise

provided funding to haven park to provide the parks, forcing us out of our once affordable homes. we have meant -- met with the enterprise ceo and president to tell them of the hardship the haven park enterprises have caused. enterprise, unfortunately, today, some of their work is at odds with their vision. they are fueling the fire. two years later and we have no way to fight back. what is hardest to live with is i thought my home would preserve my memories and help my future. haven park is taking that away. with few consumer protections, we live in fear and uncertainty. i am including a solution to

this huge injustice they described in their protections, making this recommendation a requirement is all it would take. host: keep in mind, if you want to see the full hearing from the senate banking housing and urban affairs committee, you can see it on monday. c-span will re-air the full senate banking housing and urban affairs hearing monday at 8:00 p.m. eastern on c-span two. of course, you can watch it online, any time c-span.org. we want to know, is housing affordable in your community? what are the prices out there, whether you are trying to buy or you are trying to rent? we want to know what it is like in your neighborhood. let's talk to alan, who is calling from asheville, north carolina. good morning. caller: good morning, jesse. thank you for having us. ok, well, i live in asheville

and the rent has gone up 25% here. we have short-term rentals, which takes up a lot of housing. i am concerned that we will try to get the government to solve all of these problems. if we go into rent control, it is like someone mentioned, prices will go up because no one will invest. after 2008, the governor came in and gave a lot of money to blackrock. they would go to the courthouse and buy up 100 houses at a time. and not even look at them. and you were competing against that. the average working class guy, who could have taken advantage of that unfortunate situation, was blocked out. blackrock is lining up a conference right now. you look at college, it was $1500 at one point. to go to college.

now, you have to mortgage your life. childcare, there needs to be -- there used to be childcare on every corner. the government gets involved, we don't have enough childcare. host: i can hear from your comments that you say government should not be involved from -- in affordable housing. how do we solve the problem because there are so any callers who say there is no affordable housing. how do we solve the problem? caller: the reason it is not affordable is because it is so difficult. the only way anybody can develop affordable housing is if they are a blackrock. they put so much regulation on everybody. i have four millennials, two of them own homes. they got in five years ago. two of them were not interested in it. now, one is trying to get in and

he is blocked out. i was trying to invest in rental housing. i didn't make much of a return. mom and pop rentals are out. there is no way a mom-and-pop -- i'm a realtor also and a broker. it is crazy. if you are a landlord, a small mom-and-pop landlord, we used to be full of those too. they would work with people, don't worry about the rent this month, get back on your feet. they would work things out. if you are going to rent a place where somebody is being paid to manage and you can't pay the rent, you have to go, whatever the case is. you have to reduce regulation. the government will control all of the housing. they are going to control all of the childcare. the health care, the working class person can't afford health

care. host: from the realtor side, what is the solution to get more affordable housing out there. i think i heard you say it is fewer regulations from government, that would help in some ways, how do we get more homes for first-time buyers like millennials? how do we get -- caller: we have gone to double afar. the point where the reduce the interest rates to 0% and 3%, increase the price of houses. my son makes $1500 a month for whatever. he has $1500. with the interest rates down, he can afford more principle. the prices go up to meet the $1500 threshold. he picks up more debt. and people are saying the banks are making that extra money. the bottom line is he is more in debt now. if the interest rate was higher, the cost of the house would have

been less. so, the government controlled interest rates, ok? they brought back mortgage securities. now, we have a situation where the housing prices are on-site. everybody has called in and said that to you. everybody says i can't afford it. you know why? in 2014, the economy started turning around under president obama, they should have started raising interest rates and they didn't do it. they are still not doing it. we have 7% interest rates. host: let's go to renee, who is calling from las vegas, nevada. good morning. caller: good morning. how are you? host: go ahead. caller: so, what is going on is the rentals here are ridiculous. in the last two years, rent that

was 600, $700 an hour is -- $600, seven to dollars is now $900. the housing situation got crazy. you have a lot of people in vegas who are living in what we call weeklies. it is hard when you have social security and your monthly payment -- your rent is $1025. housing has gone to the point where it is not sustainable. you're making a decision on whether you pay rent or eat. with the stadium being built, they have to make up for the cost. and the fact that they lost money building a stadium in the midst of a pandemic where no one could go to games. we have seen the rise in the properties around our area.

for a 50-year-old woman, who is on social security and disability and wants to be a homeowner, it seems like it is completely out of reach. host: some people would say if you can't afford to rent where you live, move somewhere else, or you can afford the rent, what would you say to the people who would say to you, since you can't afford to move -- live in las vegas, move somewhere else? caller: i would say i'm from los angeles, california. my benefits come out of los angeles, california. i can't afford to live anywhere in las vegas. it is cheaper to live in las vegas. this was very affordable. this is extremely affordable, 2, 3, 5 years ago. this was the place to be. host: let's go to stephen, who is calling from louisville, kentucky. good morning. caller: thanks for having me.

i just worry about the gentrification of my neighborhood. i live in a place, in a neighborhood called camp taylor. and people are buying -- in some cases, they are actually tearing houses down and putting new houses on the thing. we used to be an affordable place for -- i don't know -- i only make $30,000 to $40,000 a year. i had somebody call me, just the other day, that wanted to give me 250 housing dollars for my house. -- 250 thousand dollars for my house. where am i going to move to? where are the poor working people supposed to move to and

live? it is the gentrification, etc., etc. it's just not right. it's just not right. i wish the hell i knew what the answer was. host: let's go to michelle, who is calling from illinois. michelle, good morning. caller: good morning, good morning. how are you this morning? me and renee sound like twins. i'm in the metropolitan part of chicago, on the south end. about -- i am disabled. i am 50. i have a daughter. i had a friend who was a manager of a mobile home of community. i was able to afford a two bedroom unit apartment for $600. in 2016 -- i didn't have to go

but i needed to move out of that area because it was not safe. however, i was able to move right behind the high school. it was $850. fast-forward to june, my unit is up and the landlord is selling the building. i'm looking at two bedrooms and they are $1300. i can't afford that. i don't know what i'm going to do. i'm almost pushing to go farther south, where it is not that much shopping. it is more rule. i don't know what i am going to do. host: let's talk to ruth, who is calling from forsyth, missouri. good morning. caller: how are you, thank you for taking my call. i just recently moved from new york city, the heart of the city.

i was paying $2000 for a studio. and -- for a studio, 500 square feet for a studio. i got smart and moved away. i moved to missouri, to the suburbs and i bought a home, brand-new, for 230 thousand dollars. a4 bedroom with one acre, in the suburbs of st. louis. the price has gone up since i bought. and people are calling me, constantly, for me to sell my home, sell, sell, sell. and then i say where will i go? if i leave out of this house, i will have to upgrade and pay more money for another house. missouri is very affordable. i tell people all the time, they need to move to missouri. it is like a flyover state but it is a great place to live.

host: the top republican senator on the banking, housing and urban affairs committee, pat toomey, says government intervention is not the answer to make housing more affordable in the united states. here is a portion of what he had to say. >> to improve housing affordability for all americans, whether renters or owners, we should pursue reforms that leverage the power of free enterprise to increase housing supply and make markets more competitive. we need to scale back the role of government and increase the role of private capital. we need to phase out subsidies that increase housing prices and rents. -- rent. we need to end the gse conservatorship. the state of the housing market affirms the urgency of the reform. the housing market is cyclical.

it is a question of when, not if there will be a housing downturn. the housing finance system is not prepared. the system is still dominated by the same gse's that did so much to cause the 2008 financial crisis. the $7 trillion behemoth has an even bigger market share today than they had before the crisis. they certainly remain too big to fail. these flaws in the system continue to risk future taxpayer bailout. they undermine market forces and threaten financial stability. and they do very little to make housing more affordable. it took 50 years -- 50 years -- and many hundreds of billions of dollars in federal housing assistance have been spent and they have had no meaningful impact on homeownership rates. it was 64% in 1970. it was 65% in 2021. host: let's go to our phone lines and talk to lynn, who is

calling from florida. good morning. caller: i live in a popular area of florida. the houses have gone up, they have doubled or tripled. a house that normally went for 200,000 dollars is selling for close to $500,000. i could sell my little place and move north. but then, what i can afford, because i am retired is not very nice. it is like trying to buy a place for $440,000, it needs to be done -- read on. i might stay put. i feel bad for young families. thank you for your time and letting me speak. host: let's talk to david, who is calling from denison, texas. good morning. caller: good morning.

everybody is talking about micro issues for the most part instead of the macro. in 2006, when we had the housing -- in 2008, its effect on the economy. in 2006, we had the housing price index. they talk about the cpi. the differential between the cpi and the aci was choi in tub dollars in 2006. -- $2 trillion in 2006. housing prices came down. it is now 25% bigger than it was then. we had a massive housing -- how do you get that? the government is always

responsible. i read a lot of history of economics and study different economic schools. one thing they agree on is the government monetary policy and policy coming out of congress, mostly the monetary policy is that it is always responsible for these things. it was responsible for the depression. we have a situation now for example. investment companies buying homes went from 6% of the market , it was 5.8% of the market in 2000, to 18% of the market in 2021. 9000 homes were bought by speculative investors, speculators in the last quarter of 2021 alone. somebody mentioned there are second homes and people are not living them -- living in them.

you have the fed, even though they are struggling and talking about rates at a quarter interest point. they are continuing to pump $40 billion a month into increasing the money supply, by buying bonds. half of those are mortgage bonds . so many financial people talk about how unbelievable an air responsible this has been and they keep doing it. host: let's go to betty, who is calling in from riverside, connecticut. good morning. caller: good morning. this is betty and i live in riverside, connecticut. i have affordable housing because i live in whole housing. i pay under $300 a month and my social security is my total

income. it is right under $1000 a month. not only that, because i don't own a car, this is senior housing. senior housing or disability, disabled people could live here too. mostly seniors live here. here in greenwich, because i don't have a car, they transport me to all of my medical appointments. and they even give you a coupon for the local taxi so that if they can't transfer you, you can take the taxi. they help the seniors here with their housekeeping. one girl comes in and helps with the laundry.

i used to live down south in hud housing. i am originally from connecticut , and i moved back. i have to get down every day and thank the lord for how blessed i am. host: we would like to thank all of our callers who called in for our opening segment. coming up next, american enterprise institute's james pethokoukis join just to talk about automation and the future -- joins us to talk about automation and the future of work. later on, tie and brock benefiel in their podcast the climate pod. stick with us. we will be right back. >> book tv every sunday on c-span2 features authors discussing their latest nonfiction books.

at 4:25 p.m. eastern, a discussion about the u.s. election system with john fund and the heritage foundation. they are the authors of our broken election, how the left changed the way you vote. at 10:00 p.m. eastern, democratic state senator will haskell on his book 100,000 first bosses when he talks about legislation he has worked on since being in office. he is joined by millennial action president and ceo. every sunday on c-span2. find the full program schedule on your program guide. or online apple tv.org. -- online at booktvtv.org. the senate will consider the nomination of dr. robert kayla's to be head of the fda and a short-term funding bill to keep

the government financed and a postal service bill. both pieces of legislation passed the house last week. some committees will hold virtual hearings. thursday at 3:00 p.m. eastern, the inspector general of the capitol police testifies before the house administration committee on his review of the law enforcement agency in the wake of january 6. next week to live on the c-span networks or on c-span now. head over to www.c-span.org to stream video live or on-demand anytime. c-span, your unfiltered view of government. "washington journal" continues. host: we are back with james pethokoukis, who is a senior fellow at the american enterprise institute. he is with us this morning to discuss the impact automation could have on the future of work. goodni