How Trumps plan for mass deportations could affect home prices

President-elect Donald Trump has said that his plan to deport millions of undocumented immigrants will solve the nation’s housing crisis.Housing industry experts say the reality is more complicated.On the campaign trail, Trump repeatedly pointed to illegal immigration as the cause of high housing costs, vowing that his plan to carry out “the largest deportation operation in American history” would lower home prices.Immigration “is driving housing costs through the roof,” Trump said at a September rally in the swing state of Arizona.Following his election victory last week, Trump announced his plan to appoint Tom Homan as his “border czar” in charge of deportations.Homan, the former acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement during Trump’s first term, has made clear his tough stance in favor of widespread deportations of people living in the U.S.

illegally.Trump also signaled his seriousness about carrying out an immigration crackdown with his selection of Stephen Miller as deputy chief of staff for policy.Miller served as a senior adviser and speechwriter during Trump’s first stint in the White House, and is an outspoken immigration hard-liner.The Department of Homeland Security estimates that there are about 11 million unauthorized immigrants residing in U.S., although Trump and his supporters argue the number is much higher, possibly as much as double the official figure.Trump has argued that deporting many or all of those people will reduce housing costs for Americans, by reducing competition for homes.

But economists and housing industry experts warn that widespread deportations could make new homes more expensive, by driving up labor costs.“Mass deportation would seriously dampen the residential construction labor force.Not only would builders have to replace workers, which takes time and money to do, but they’d likely have to pay more for replacement labor in the future,” says Realtor.com senior economist Joel B...