‘Is The American Dream Out Of Reach…?’: Fox Business Reporter Grills Karine Jean-Pierre

5 months ago

During a White House press briefing on Monday, Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was asked about the American dream and skyrocketing prices.

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Transcript

00:00I want to ask you about the American dream.

00:03So overall, the average sale price of a home is up 29 percent under President Biden.

00:07We have record-low inventory, according to the National Association of Realtors.

00:11And the cost of a mortgage is up because interest rates are up to fight inflation.

00:14So is the American dream out of reach for a lot of Americans now?

00:18So, Ed, I appreciate the question, and I hear what you're saying.

00:21And, look, the President understands that Americans are struggling right now to pay

00:25for their rent, to buy a home.

00:27And we get that.

00:28The President took action some time ago, early in his administration.

00:33And the things that it did was reduce mortgage insurance premiums by $900 per year for hundreds

00:39of thousands of first-time homebuyers, expand rental assistance to 100,000 additional households,

00:46cut the red tape, and expand financing to build tens of thousands of affordable housing.

00:52And because of that, we see a record of 1.7 million housing units are being built nationwide.

00:58And that is the most ever.

01:00And more apartments are being built each year under this President than any other administration

01:06since the 1980s.

01:08And so that matters.

01:09But the President also understands that there's more work to be done.

01:13But he has taken an action.

01:14He's created a task force to deal with this issue because he understands how much Americans

01:19are struggling just to buy a home, just to pay rent.

01:22And so he's going to continue to do that.

01:23So you're saying eventually prices will come down, and then what's the time frame?

01:27No, what I'm saying is the President has taken action, and we have seen 1.7 million housing

01:32units are being built.

01:33Affordable housing units are being built.

01:36There's more work to do.

01:37The President also is calling on Congress to pass his housing plan, which was called

01:43by experts the most consequential housing plan in more than 50 years.

01:47So he's taking more action.

01:49We've seen how the three things that I laid out in answering your question has actually

01:53helped.

01:54Taking away red tape, continuing to expand rental assistance, making sure that thousands

02:00of Americans are able to have these insurance premiums at $900 per year, these mortgage

02:06insurance premiums, which is all important in how they're trying to, you're right, trying

02:11to get that American dream.

02:12Buying a home is indeed very much part of that American dream, and the President understands

02:17that.

‘Is The American Dream Out Of Reach…?’: Fox Business Reporter Grills Karine Jean-Pierre

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