Podcast: Home Builders and Buyers Unsettled as 2026 Begins
On the latest episode of NAHB’s podcast, Housing Developments, CEO Jim Tobin and COO Paul Lopez kick off the first podcast of 2026 looking at the state of housing, the political environment heading into a midterm year, and how builders and buyers are attempting to navigate the current market.
Housing affordability is a key focus for this administration, which has led to a number of potential solutions that the administration has proposed to see what takes hold. Although the 50-year mortgage concept appears to have been dismissed, the administration is targeting institutional investors as a challenge to affordability, with plans to ban investors from buying single-family homes.
“It was a little bit of a surprise because, all told, single-family rental is less than 10% of the market — probably close to 8%,” Tobin noted. “And institutional purchasers … it’s something like 3% of the market. In fact, I saw that those institutional investors have sold more over the last year than they have purchased.”
This creates a slippery slope that could affect not just institutional investors but smaller landlords and single-family built-for-rent developers. This and additional proposed solutions also tend to focus more on the demand side, rather than the supply side, which is where real lasting impact can be made.
“Stimulating more demand with a market that’s already constricted — I’m not sure that’s not a recipe for getting us back to where we were in the few years post-COVID,” Tobin added.
To help alleviate the housing affordability crisis, NAHB has positioned itself as a partner to the administration as it explores further policy, including a potential executive order. Builders should also be seen as a partner in local communities.
“These are the people that build communities, and they change lives … that’s what our members do,” Tobin stated. “They’re the ones who are going to build communities, and they’re going to build homes for our kids and our grandkids, or retirees — anybody who wants a home, it’s going to be done by members of the National Association of Home Builders.”
Tobin and Lopez also:
- Delve into current news, such as the California gas ban suit,
- Highlight the value of attending the 2026 International Builders’ Show (IBS) in Orlando, Feb. 17-19, and
- Remember past chairman Joe Robson.
Listen to the full episode of the podcast below and subscribe to Housing Developments through your favorite podcast provider, or watch all the episodes on YouTube.