Why America’s Housing Shortage Is So Hard to Fix

Many Americans agree there’s a housing crisis—and it’s radically different from the last one. Instead of the values of homes dropping too fast, as they did during the foreclosure debacle starting in 2007, they’ve stayed stubbornly high—locking many would-be buyers out of the market, raising rents and adding to anxiety about the cost of living. Both presidential candidates have promised to improve housing affordability, with Democrat Kamala Harris making it a key part of her economic pitch. But fixing a problem more than a decade in the making won’t be easy, says Ali Wolf, chief economist for Zonda, which collects data on homebuilding. This conversation with Bloomberg Television’s Sonali Basak has been edited for clarity and length.

SONALI BASAK : Would you call this a housing crisis?