After years of a housing affordability crunch, Congress has weighed in with competing proposals to make homeownership more possible for hopeful buyers.
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There was a time in the not-so-distant past when the biggest problem homebuyers faced was making sure the kitchen counters were granite and the appliances were stainless steel. That was before the pandemic-era housing market drove up demand — and home prices — followed by a subsequent rise in interest rates from historic lows.
The result has been an ongoing affordability crunch that stymied markets and put homeownership hopelessly out of reach for many younger buyers. Solutions have been floated in the form of pressure on the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates (President Trump’s favored solution) to creative financing concepts and a call to build millions more homes to improve inventory supply.
Now, however, the frequently deadlocked U.S. Congress has started to weigh in, with both the House of Representatives and the Senate creating their own housing affordability plans.
What you need to know about the House’s new affordability bill by Marian McPherson
The National Association of Realtors came out in favor of a bill by the U.S. House of Representatives called the Housing for the 21st Century Act, which passed last Monday and is headed to the Senate.
“NAR strongly supports bipartisan efforts in both chambers to address this crisis, and we believe Congress must act decisively to remove barriers to housing production and reform outdated programs, while giving communities the tools they need to build more homes,” NAR’s statement read. “By addressing barriers at the federal, state, and local levels, H.R. 6644 represents the kind of comprehensive approach needed to expand housing opportunities and restore affordability.”
The Senate has its own version of an affordability bill, the ROAD to Housing Act, so the chambers will need to either find common ground on one of the bills or look for an alternative that combines the two.
We know that nothing moves quickly in Washington, D.C., at the best of times, and hyperpartisanship makes it difficult to solve our country’s most intractable problems. From data to strategies, Inman staffers and contributors have been looking for solutions and pointing out the positive signs dotting the affordability landscape.
Here’s how much homebuyer affordability has improved this year
Affordability is improving in 37 out of the 50 most populous metros in the U.S. as rates come down and incomes rise. However, homeownership is still out of reach for most in pricey coastal markets.
Home affordability reaches 4-year high after January rate drop
Softening rates opened the door for 4.8 million borrowers to refinance their mortgages in January, the highest level in four years. However, affordability levels remain below pre-pandemic levels.
The affordable housing crisis isn’t just financial. It’s political
American attitudes around home affordability will determine whether Congress treats housing as a priority or as another talking point to be dropped between election cycles, Inman contributor America Foy writes.
Affordability comes from small wins, not One Big, Beautiful Bill
Progress will come from dozens of reforms — legislative, regulatory, executive and local — each removing one obstacle, lowering one cost or opening one more door, Craig Cheatham writes.
The Download is a column in which Inman’s Christy Murdock takes a deeper look at the top-read stories of the past week to give you what you’ll need to meet Monday head-on.
Email Christy Murdock
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