Mass immigration has put a significant strain on America’s housing market, a new study from the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) details, adding to decades of evidence that supports the same conclusion.
The research report states that the nation’s “housing supply shortage … would not be nearly as severe were it not for consistently high immigration levels stressing America’s housing market to the breaking point.”
As noted in the report, the United States imports more than a million foreign nationals on green cards each year in addition to hundreds of thousands of foreign nationals who arrive on temporary work visas.
Countless more foreign nationals arrive illegally every year. Altogether, these high levels of immigration drive up demand, and thus, home prices and monthly rents, the FAIR report concludes.
“Immigration, legal and illegal, is one of the most consequential factors affecting housing affordability because it directly generates significant housing demand in supply-constrained areas least able to handle an influx of people,” the report states:
The United States has by far the largest foreign-born population in the world, with mainstream estimates of foreign residents at well above 50 million (depending on the estimated size of the illegal alien population). The U.S. also takes in far more legal immigrants per year than any other country. Almost 1.4 million people gained lawful permanent resident status (green cards) in fiscal year (FY) 2024 alone, nearly 600,000 of whom were new arrivals from abroad. However, these legal immigrants only account for a small fraction of immigration’s total impact on the housing market. [Emphasis added]
…
Even during periods of relatively little illegal immigration, like the U.S. is currently experiencing thanks to the Trump administration’s stronger border policy, the consistent flow of legal immigration puts pressure on the housing market. As shown in Figure 3, new housing unit construction collapsed to around 400,000 annually in 2010 and only recovered to pre-Great Recession totals by 2020. However, there was no corresponding drop in immigration-driven demand for housing. In that same period, 11,400,820 green cards were issued (more than 1 million annually) and far more came in on long-term visas or illegally. These new arrivals alone were enough to occupy all new housing built in that period and contribute to the housing deficit that keeps prices at their current record highs. [Emphasis added]
The FAIR report cites research from the Center for Immigration Studies which finds “that a 5-percentage point increase in the recent immigrant share of a metro area’s population correlated with a 12 percent increase in American-born households’ rent.”
Because immigrants are more likely to rent, working class Americans and those living in major cities are hit hardest by mass immigration’s impact on the housing market.
“This effect can be observed in metro areas that absorbed a significant number of illegal aliens during the Biden administration,” the report states:
The Miami area, for example, absorbed more illegal aliens released into the U.S. by the Biden administration than any other metro area; at least 1 for every 50 existing residents. From 2019 to 2024, in the same metro area, the percentage of zip codes with a median multifamily rent of below $2,000 plummeted from 83 percent to 33 percent. Zip codes with median single-family rentals below $2,000 fell from 36 percent to just 2 percent. [Emphasis added]
The FAIR report suggests that the Trump administration ought to curb legal immigration levels to shore up cheaper homes and rental units for the nation’s working and middle class, who are disproportionately affected by mass immigration.
Most recently, the Wall Street Journal admitted that less immigration this year, thanks to President Donald Trump’s policies, has resulted in a cooling of rent prices.
“Renters across much of the U.S. have enjoyed easing prices and months of free rent this year … as President Trump cracks down on international immigration, the influx of new foreign residents is also slowing,” the Wall Street Journal reported.
Vice President JD Vance has credited Trump’s policies, leading to less immigration, for home prices coming down.
“Why has housing leveled off over the last six months? I really believe the main driver is you’ve had negative net migration into the United States for the first time in 60 years in this country,” Vance said in August.
“You cannot flood the United States of America with 20, 30, 40 million people who have no legal right to be here, have them compete against young American families for homes, and not expect the price to skyrocket,” Vance said. “It’s simple supply and demand. You increase the demand, they increase the price.”
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter here.
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