The dirty little secret in the United States is that there is a massive oversupply of homes. There are 139 million single-family homes, 56 million multi-family homes, and 140 million apartments, for a population 328 million in 2021. That's 1.02 houses for every 1 person in the US. The average American "family" has 3.15 people living in it. This is why towns have major issues with blight, as these vacant homes sit, slowly decaying, resulting in 200-300,000 homes being demolished every year. The problem is not housing, but population distribution, and this is the easiest way to make housing more affordable:
Outlaw wage discrimination based on your address. This should be a no-brainer - how is it 2022 and an employer can set your wage based on where you chose to live?
Make homes sales data standardized and nationwide - ie. allow buyers to be informed about what other homes sold for.
Require Realtors to recieve training on day 1 on how to value real estate. There is currently 0 hours of training required. This would immediately speed the process of listing and closing on homes at more reasonable prices.
Set Appraisal Management Company fee percentages at a cap nationwide to speed up the process of ordering appraisals, and avoid low-quality work for low fees.
Establish national maximum interest rates for loan origination based on national borrowing guidelines and allow banks to compete across state lines.