Americans, like many people living in the world’s wealthiest economies, are increasingly dissatisfied with the availability of “good, affordable” housing in their country, according to a recent Gallup survey.

In 2024, 36 percent of U.S. residents were happy with the state of housing in the city or area where they lived, the pollster found, down from 39 percent in 2023, 40 percent in 2022, 54 percent in 2021 and 61 percent in 2020.

These numbers reflect how the U.S. housing affordability crisis has precipitated since the start of the pandemic, when demand spiked thanks to relatively low mortgage rates and home prices skyrocketed because of a historic lack of supply.

Why It Matters

The median sale price of a home in the U.S. rose by 70 percent between March 2020 ($302,487) and March 2025 ($431,078), according to Redfin data. Home prices have skyrocketed at the same time as mortgage rates shot up because of the Federal Reserve’s aggressive rate-hiking campaign to combat inflation in 2022, pushing many aspiring homebuyers in the U.S. to the sidelines of the market.

The Gallup survey found that the recent rise in home prices in wealthy countries, including the U.S., was closely linked to the observed decline in residents’ satisfaction with the availability of affordable housing.

What To Know

Despite a recent slowdown due to cooling demand across the country, home prices are still rising in the U.S. In March, according to Redfin, the median sale price of a home was 2.5 percent higher than a year earlier, at $431,078.

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was 6.81 percent as of April 24, still much higher than the lows recorded during the pandemic, according to Freddie Mac data.

The Gallup survey found that dissatisfaction with the availability of affordable housing had reached record highs in many wealthy economies, including the U.S., mainly because of rising home prices. Satisfaction with housing has plunged in Canada, Australia and many European countries, including Germany, Belgium and Portugal.

Overall, in the rest of the world, satisfaction with the availability of affordable housing was 50 percent in 2024, slightly higher than the 48 percent reported in 2007. However, in countries that form the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, satisfaction fell from 48 percent in 2007 to 43 percent last year.

In the U.S., 60 percent of Americans were satisfied with the availability of affordable housing in 2007, ahead of the Great Recession of 2008-2009. Satisfaction remained high in the years that followed, reaching peaks of 71 percent in 2010 and 2013, but it began plummeting in 2020.

What People Are Saying

Gallup said in a report on the survey: “Life satisfaction falls when people are dissatisfied with housing, making housing not only an economic concern but a deeply human one. For political leaders, it’s also a strategic one. Public perceptions of affordable housing are closely linked to leadership approval. In wealthy countries, parties hoping to win or retain power should not underestimate how important a good, affordable home is to a good life.”

What Happens Next

Housing affordability was a key voter issue in the 2024 presidential election, which returned President Donald Trump to the White House. While Trump promised to lower the cost of housing and boost affordability, prices are still rising, and experts have warned that his tariffs may increase construction costs and home insurance premiums.