What the Election Results Mean for Housing

This post has been updated.

While the November elections clearly showed a fiercely partisan divide, Donald Trump scored a decisive presidential victory by sweeping all seven battleground states — Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. And in a sign of another solid election night for the GOP, the Senate flipped to the Republicans with GOP pickups in Montana, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. NAHB’s voter mobilization effort in Montana helped secure the win for Republican challenger Tim Sheehy, a pro-housing advocate. Meanwhile, the battle for the House majority is going down to the wire, with Republicans expected to narrowly hold the chamber, though Democrats hope to sweep the most contested races to eke out a razor-thin majority.

With roughly 20 House seats still to be called and the Senate race in Arizona still in the balance, housing remains a bipartisan issue, regardless of which parties control the levers of power on Capitol Hill. Thanks in large part to NAHB’s efforts, there is consensus on both sides of the political aisle to take concrete steps to address the nation’s housing affordability crisis.

For the past year, NAHB has laid the groundwork to make housing a top priority at the local, state and national levels. Last spring, we unveiled a 10-point housing plan addressing the root causes of the problem, such as excessive regulations, inefficient local zoning rules and permitting roadblocks that prevent builders from increasing the nation’s housing supply. This plan was distributed to congressional offices and many state and local HBAs shared it with their elected officials. During this election season, NAHB testified several times on Capitol Hill, and we maintained a presence at the Democratic and Republican National Conventions this summer to push our housing agenda. NAHB also endorsed nearly 100 pro-housing Democratic and Republican candidates for Congress, and more than 90% of them won their races on Nov. 5.

These actions helped elevate housing to the forefront of the political agenda. President-elect Donald Trump said: “Government regulations are responsible for more than 25% of the cost of a new single-family home and 40% of the cost of multifamily. We’re going to end all of that.” And Vice President Kamala Harris also kept housing at the forefront of the campaign, pledging to work with home builders to construct an additional 3 million housing units.

And as the dust settles from this election, NAHB and our Federation stand poised to work with a new Congress and the incoming Trump administration, as well as elected officials at all levels of government, to deliver bipartisan solutions that break the rising cost curve and allow builders to construct more homes and apartments.

Read NAHB’s 2024 election summary for more details.