NAHB Podcast: The Davos Housing Update That Wasn’t
On the latest episode of NAHB’s podcast, Housing Developments, Chief Operating Officer Paul Lopez is joined by Chief Advocacy Officer Ken Wingert to discuss the latest housing policies, including:
- President Trump’s housing announcement (or lack thereof) at the World Economic Forum,
- Executive order on institutional investors, and
- How NAHB will continue to work with the administration and Congress as they focus on tackling the housing affordability crisis.
Davos 2026
President Trump had initially been expected to make a housing announcement yesterday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. As Lopez and Wingert discuss in this episode (recorded on Jan. 21), however, the housing discussion mainly covered existing territory.
“He spoke for about an hour and half today,” Wingert observed, “and talked about the institutional investor piece, home values … but beyond that, really no big housing announcement to dissect right now.”
One reason is the delicate balancing act of making housing more affordable without significantly damaging existing home values.
“Trying to thread that needle of increasing supply and bringing down costs but without bringing down costs to existing owners is kind of tightrope for them to walk,” Wingert noted.
Institutional Investors in Housing
Although no announcement was made at Davos, the White House did issue an executive order on institutional investors’ participation in the housing market. Although investors compromise a small part of the market, “it’s one of those issues that polls really well,” Wingert noted. “So politically, it makes a lot of sense that they would start there.”
NAHB worked with the administration following the announcement that they would be targeting this issue, as NAHB members participate in the rental and built-for-rent markets, and the final order included an exception for those activities.
2026 Advocacy Efforts
In addition to the White House’s efforts, Capitol Hill has been making some headway on housing issues, including the Road to Housing Act in the Senate and Housing for the 21st Act in the House. NAHB continues to work with legislators to push key initiatives.
“Housing has been kind of the outlier in that it’s been very bipartisan,” Wingert stated. “The votes … have been unanimous in the Senate and nearly unanimous in the House. So both parties recognize the importance of that.”
“So we’ll continue to push the legislative side on those specific, those very supply-side driven things for both single family and multifamily,” he added.
As an example, NAHB Chairman Buddy Hughes will be testifying this afternoon before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on regulatory burdens.
Lopez and Wingert also speculate on the possibility of a government shutdown ahead of the Jan. 30 deadline and if it will include a reconciliation bill that could involve some of the demand-side policy updates that have been touted of late, such as 401Ks as a downpayment source.
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.