(NewsNation) — Monthly housing costs have skyrocketed in recent years. Now, homebuyers in the states that will decide the upcoming presidential election are paying almost double what they were four years ago, according to new Redfin data.

The median monthly housing payment in battleground states has nearly doubled since the 2020 election, increasing 92% to an all-time high of $2,161.

To keep up with the high cost of living, many young adults turn to a likely safety net: their parents.

Nearly half (46%) of Gen Zers between the ages of 18 and 27 rely on financial assistance from their family, according to a new report from Bank of America.

Home prices rose in May to a new high, with low inventory continuing to spur bidding wars among home buyers in some markets.

The national median existing-home price in May was $419,300, a record in data going back to 1999, the National Association of Realtors said Friday. Prices aren’t adjusted for inflation.

That was up 5.8% from a year earlier.

Those high prices, paired with elevated mortgage rates, have limited the number of sales this spring—typically the busiest season for home buying.

A startup that spun out of Airbnb to manufacture tiny homes at a factory in Mexico is launching a mortgage product it hopes will relieve California’s housing crisis.

Samara, which raised $41 million in 2023, is now getting into the financing business. It will start offering a mortgage that lets homeowners take equity out of their primary house to install backyard units, technically called accessory dwelling units, or ADUs.

Anyone with half an eye on the housing market over the last two decades will know that in many countries, not least the United States, it’s become much more difficult to buy a home.

But a new report sums up the feeling of many potential home buyers by creating a category that labels some major cities as “impossibly unaffordable.”

The report compared average incomes with average home prices. It found that pandemic-driven demand for homes with outside space, land use policies aimed at limiting urban sprawl, and investors piling into markets had sent prices soaring.

Homebuyers willing to brave today’s high mortgage rates might at least be delighted to find that they have plenty of homes to consider.

In the latest monthly housing report from Realtor.com®, the overall number of homes for sale in May marks seven months of growth.

“The biggest eye-catcher for me is the fact that inventory is rising sharply,” says Realtor.com senior economist Ralph McLaughlin. “There are 35.2% more homes on the market than this time last year, an incredible trend in the direction of normality.”

The housing activists known as YIMBYs have spent most of the past decade fighting their battles at the state and local levels, pushing to loosen strict zoning rules they argue have led to a national home affordability crisis.

Ahead of the 2024 presidential election, home prices and housing affordability are emerging as hot issues in the swing states that will decide the election.

While the housing crisis is an issue across the country, an analysis of Realtor.com® affordability score data shows distinct trends separating red states, blue states, and the seven key swing states: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.