Faced with high housing costs and what the White House described as a “large shortage of affordable housing,” the Biden administration is looking to jump-start the real estate market with large tax credits aimed at homebuyers.

In his State of the Union address, Biden called for $10,000 tax credits for first-time homebuyers and people who sell their starter homes.

“For many Americans, owning a home is the cornerstone of raising a family, building wealth, and joining the middle class. Too many working families feel locked out of homeownership and are unable to compete with investors for a limited supply of affordable for-sale homes,” the White House said in a statement.

READ MORE: New child tax credit 2024: What if credit changes after I file taxes?

Here’s how it would work and who would qualify:

• First-time homebuyers – This annual tax credit would provide $5,000 a year for two years, or the equivalent of reducing the mortgage rate by more than 1.5 percentage points for two years on a median-priced home in the U.S. The proposal is expected to help some 3.5 million families.
• People who sell their “starter homes” – A separate one-year tax credit of $10,000 would go to middle-class families that sell their starter home, the statement continued. A “starter home” is  defined as a home below the area median home price in the county where it is located. To qualify, the sale would have to be made to another owner/occupant, a move designed to skip over investors looking to snatch up low-cost properties.  The proposal is estimated to help some 3 million families.

Both of the credits would be limited to households earning less than $200,000 a year, CBS News reported.

Bidens also plans to ask Congress to authorize $25,000 in down payment assistance for first-time buyers whose parents aren’t homeowners.

The president is calling on Congress to pass the tax legislation this year.