New Survey Reveals Bipartisan Supermajority Support for Property Tax Caps and Rent Control

A recent national survey conducted by researchers Chris Elmendorf, Clayton Nall, and Stan Oklobdzija indicates widespread, bipartisan support for price control measures like property tax caps and rent control. The findings challenge conventional political divides on economic interventions, highlighting a broad public consensus on these housing affordability policies. As stated by Chris Elmendorf in a social media post, "property tax caps are hugely popular among Ds as well as Rs, and rent control is very popular among Rs as well as Ds."

The survey, conducted approximately a year prior to the September 2025 tweet and detailed in the forthcoming academic paper "The Folk Economics of Housing," involved 5,000 urban and suburban voters. Its primary aim was to gauge public opinion on various state housing policies and their perceived effectiveness in addressing affordability challenges. Researchers elicited respondents' views on a wide range of potential solutions, from supply-side development to direct price interventions.

Key findings from the study reveal that a significant bipartisan supermajority of respondents expressed support for price controls. This popularity extends to both property tax caps, which garnered strong approval from Democrats and Republicans alike, and rent control, which similarly found favor across both major political affiliations. This suggests a public inclination towards direct regulatory measures to manage housing costs.

The research also touched upon "supply skepticism," noting that many people do not believe that simply increasing housing supply would effectively reduce prices. This underlying belief may contribute to the broad appeal of price control policies over market-oriented solutions. The survey's results present a notable insight into the public's preferred approaches to housing affordability, potentially influencing future policy debates and legislative efforts at state and local levels.