Presidents' Day: How U.S. Presidents Have Shaped the Housing Market

Happy Presidents' Day! Here in Chester County, homeownership remains a key part of life for many families. On this holiday, it's worth noting some of the ways various presidents have influenced the housing market through policies that expanded access, stabilized lending, and supported growth. Of course, opinions on these leaders and their legacies vary widely, but certain actions had clear effects on homeownership rates and suburban development.

During the Great Depression, when homeownership had fallen below 40 percent, Herbert Hoover signed the Federal Home Loan Bank Act. Which established a system to provide liquidity to lenders and helped stabilize the savings and loan sector. Franklin D. Roosevelt built on this with the National Housing Act in 1934, creating the Federal Housing Administration to insure long-term, fixed-rate mortgages with lower down payments—typically 10 to 20 percent, compared to earlier requirements often exceeding 50 percent. This made borrowing more predictable for middle-class buyers. In 1944, Roosevelt also signed the GI Bill, which offered zero-down VA loans to veterans and contributed to a postwar increase in homeownership, from about 44 percent in 1940 to over 60 percent by 1960.

Harry Truman advanced these efforts through the Housing Act of 1949, which set a national goal of decent housing for all and expanded public units alongside urban renewal programs. Dwight Eisenhower's Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956 funded the Interstate Highway System, improving access to outlying areas and facilitating suburban expansion by making longer commutes feasible, like many of you who work in the Philly and Conshohocken.

In the 1960s, Lyndon B. Johnson created the Department of Housing and Urban Development in 1965, raising housing policy to cabinet level and aiming for millions of new or rehabilitated units. His administration also passed the Fair Housing Act in 1968, prohibiting discrimination in sales, rentals, and financing. Later, in the 1990s, Bill Clinton's policies emphasizing affordable housing through government-sponsored enterprises and community lending contributed to a rise in homeownership rates, approaching 69 percent at their peak.

From the modern 30-year mortgage and low-down-payment options to interstate infrastructure, Presidents played a big part in the housing landscape over time. Hope you're enjoying the holiday weekend.

Let’s move Pennsylvania forward.