So-called “policy experts” at the libertarian Cato Institute, known for its defense of open borders, are admitting that Sen. JD Vance (R-OH) is correct when he says “immigration increases housing prices” for Americans.
“We don’t want to blame immigrants for higher housing prices, but we do want to blame Kamala Harris for letting in millions of illegal aliens into this country, which does drive up costs,” Vance said at Tuesday evening’s vice presidential debate:
Twenty-five million illegal aliens competing with Americans for scarce homes is one of the most significant drivers of home prices in the country. It’s why we have massive increases in home prices that have happened right alongside massive increases in illegal alien populations under Kamala Harris’s leadership. [Emphasis added]
On Wednesday, the Cato Institute’s Alex Nowrasteh published a piece titled “JD Vance Is Correct: Immigration Increases Housing Prices, and That’s Okay” where the libertarian admits high levels of immigration drive up housing prices.
“Vance is correct in saying that immigrants increase the price of houses,” Nowrasteh writes:
The intersection of supply and demand determines housing prices, like all prices. When housing supply curves are upward-sloping, increased demand from immigrants will increase housing prices. Immigrants are people who want roofs over their heads, after all. [Emphasis added]
…
Bringing the discussion back to Springfield, Ohio, where Vance started, housing prices have increased there as more Haitian migrants have moved in. According to Redfin, the median sale price of a single-family home sold there increased from $78,500 in August 2019 to $158,000 in August 2024, a 101 percent increase in nominal terms. The nationwide increase was 46 percent in nominal terms during the same period. That has made renters and first-time home buyers worse off in Springfield and homeowners, who are mostly native-born, better off. [Emphasis added]
At a recent House Oversight Committee hearing, Center for Immigration Studies Director of Research Steven Camarota said his analysis has found that “a 5-percentage point increase in the recent immigrant share of a metro area’s population is associated with a 12-percent increase in the average U.S.-born household’s rent, relative to their income.”
Camarota noted that high levels of immigration particularly increase rents.
“Adding very large numbers of people to the country must significantly impact housing prices by driving up demand for rental properties … the Census Bureau reports that the increase in rents in 2023 was by far the largest in the past decade,” Camarota said
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at
