The proposal, released Wednesday by the Groundwork Collaborative, was drafted by former Biden administration analysts Noah Ball-Burack, Emily DiVito, and Alex Jacquez. They argue that the federal government should invest between $44 billion and $75 billion to subsidize the production of factory-built housing. This capital would secure large-scale orders and land acquisition, allowing the units to be sold for roughly $170,000 to $215,000—nearly half the current median price of a new single-family home.
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A Modern Sears Plan: Pushing for 500,000 Affordable Prefab Homes
Economic researchers are proposing a federal initiative to construct 500,000 prefabricated starter homes over the next eight years. By reviving the logic of the early 20th-century Sears catalog kits, the plan aims to bypass traditional market constraints and provide affordable homeownership for middle-income families across the United States.
Unlike private developers, who often abandon projects when profit margins tighten, the Department of Housing and Urban Development could provide the consistent demand needed to stabilize the industry. By targeting households earning 60% to 100% of the local median income, the program seeks to address the chronic under-building that has fueled the current affordability crisis. While states like New York are already testing similar modular construction, the researchers maintain that only federal intervention can achieve the scale necessary to reshape the housing landscape.
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