Rents soared this year: The national median was 16.7% higher in May than the year before. Inflation was a driver: As prices on everything went up, so did the cost of your dwelling.  Biden and Dems are playing a leftwing game that is hurting the nation.

     COVID-19 played a role too. Landlords who had taken financial hits when rental prices collapsed at the pandemic’s start were suddenly in pole position to charge more. The pandemic made so many people rethink their living situation. It might have been just moving to a bigger space after a claustrophobic few months at home or a complete uprooting as millions of Americans left major metropolitan areas for literally greener pastures.  We’re seeing unprecedented demand with continually limited supply. We need to build more. But that one solution just isn’t enough, and it doesn’t help those hurting right now.  

     One idea is to stop some foreign investment in our housing market. As The Post’s Ariel Zilber reported in July, “Chinese investors were the most active buyers of US real estate last year among foreigners — spending a record $6.1 billion on homes.” They dropped even more the year before the pandemic: The National Association of Realtors found they spent $11.5 billion — more than a sixth of the total — from April 2019 to March 2020. It’s not just individuals. Chinese companies own nearly 200,000 acres of American farmland.

     It’s a steep climb for an American to buy homes in China in the same way. Beijing puts strict rules on foreigners buying property, and all sales need government approval. We should be reciprocal and not just allow their citizens to park their cash here.  Look, we don’t want to be China. The free market is the very best way to lift people out of poverty and better the lives of as many as possible.  But we are not in a free market.