The traditional American starter home—that quaint, ranch-style, two-to-three bedroom home enabling young families to begin their journey toward wealth creation—is on life support. The U.S. is currently short nearly 4 million homes, according to Goldman Sachs. A number of factors have defeated that essential stepping stone, from sky-high prices to strangling zoning constraints. But for Better.com CEO Vishal Garg, the main barrier lies in mortgages.
“One of the core reasons why people, even the home builders, don’t build starter homes in America is nobody’s willing to give mortgages for starter homes,” he told Fortune.
