During
Thursday
night’s
historic
presidential
debate
broadcast
by


CNN,
housing
issues
only
came
up
briefly,
and
only
from
one
candidate.
The
debate
was
the
first
in
decades
not
to
be
sponsored
by
the
bipartisan

Commission
on
Presidential
Debates,
the
first
presidential
debate
with
a
commercial
break
and
the
first
television
debate
between
a
current
and
former
president.

In
his
introductory
remarks,
President

Joe
Biden
came
right
out
of
the
gate
mentioning
housing
costs
as
an
issue
he
wants
to
address
if
he’s
elected
to
a
second
term.

“We’re
going
to
be
able
to
reduce
the
price
of
housing,”
Biden
said
of
a
potential
second
term
in
the
debate’s
opening
moments.
“We’re
going
to
make
sure
we
build
2
million
new
units.
We’re
going
to
make
sure
we
cap
rents
so
corporate
greed
can’t
take
over…
corporate
greed
is
the
reason
why
we’re
in
this
problem
right
now.”

Later,
during
a
question
about
issues
facing
Black
Americans,
Biden
mentioned
challenges
including
“segregation
that
exists
among
these
corporate
operations
that
collude
to
keep
people
out
of
their
houses.”
He
also
mentioned
his
proposal
for
a

$10,000
tax
credit
for
first-time
homebuyers.

The
Biden
administration
has
been
vocal
about
housing
issues
this
year,
including
in

a
dedicated
section
of
the
president’s
State
of
the
Union
address
this
past
March.
In
the
lead-up
to
that
speech,
the


White
House
released
a
housing
plan
that
included
an
annual
tax
credit
that
would
give
eligible
beneficiaries
$400
a
month
for
two
years
to
put
toward
mortgage
payments.

He
also
proposed
cutting
the
requirement
for
title
insurance
on
some
loans,
a

controversial
element
of
the
plan,
though
it
only
applies
to
refinances.

Former
President

Donald
Trump
did
not
specifically
mention
housing
during
the
debate,
nor
did
any
question
from
moderators
Jake
Tapper
and
Dana
Bash
specifically
focus
on
it.
As
of
Thursday
evening,
housing
is
not
present
on
the
“issues”
section
of
Trump’s
campaign
website.

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