Podcast: NAHB’s Position on Banning Gas Appliances and Congress Gets Back to Work
In the latest episode of NAHB’s Housing Developments podcast, NAHB CEO Jim Tobin and SVP Paul Lopez explain NAHB’s position on recent efforts to regulate gas appliances out of the market. The two also discuss pressing legislative issues now that Congress is working again and wrap up a busy week in Washington with NAHB’s Spring Leadership Meeting, Legislative Conference and the Innovative Housing Showcase.
Listen to Housing Developments wherever you get your podcasts, or watch a video of the full episode below.
Editor’s note: Read updates on the REINS Act, gas stoves legislation and the Fed’s meeting this week.
Latest from NAHBNow
The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) released the NAHB Remodeling Market Index (RMI) for the third quarter, posting a reading of 62—up one point compared to the previous quarter.
For the first time since 2022, the share of new homes with two-story foyers increased, according to the Census Bureau's Survey of Construction (SOC). Despite the increase, the market share of two-story foyers has generally trended downward since 2017, with most new single-family homes being built without a two-story foyer both nationally and regionally.
Latest Economic News
Mortgage application activity declined as the 30-year fixed mortgage rate rose sharply. The Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Market Composite Index, a measure of total mortgage application volume, decreased 7.7% month-over-month in September on a seasonally adjusted basis. Compared to a year ago, total mortgage applications were lower by 35.4%.
Mortgage rates rose sharply in September as multiple factors applied significant upward pressure on the U.S. treasury yields. According to Freddie Mac, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.86% in September, up nearly 20 basis points (bps) from August.
In 2025, around a quarter of new homes were built with a two-story foyer, slightly up from 2024, according to data obtained from the Census Bureau’s Survey of Construction (SOC) and tabulated by NAHB.