Podcast: The Housing Bill Will (Probably) Become Law. What's In It?
On the latest episode of NAHB’s podcast, Housing Developments, CEO Jim Tobin and COO Paul Lopez talk about what’s happening in Washington, D.C., including the most recent updates on the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act and midterm expectations.
The legislation was approved last week by the Senate and was expected to be signed into law shortly after by President Trump. However, the president paused on signing the bill to advocate for passage of the SAVE Act, putting the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act in limbo.
This legislation includes five key provisions that will help address housing affordability, including:
- Land-Use and Zoning. “It’s going to give HUD the power to work with stakeholders, like the home builders, to identify best practices that they can then turn into actionable items for local and state governments options to implement,” Tobin explained. “We just want to reduce the barriers to housing, and this will give pathways for local governments to do that.”
- Aging Housing Stock. “We know that remodeling is going to be a huge part of the housing sector over the next decade,” Tobin shared. “This recognizes that while we have not built enough homes to keep up with pace, we are going to have worry about our older housing stock, which is less efficient, which is less resilient … and provides incentives to update our older housing stock.”
- Multifamily Financing. FHA-insured multifamily loan limits have not changed in 12 years and no longer reflect market conditions. This legislation raises those limits and indexes them to inflation to support new apartment development. “That’s what I like about this bill in general,” Tobin added. “It really is focusing on bringing more homes and apartments online as soon as possible.”
- Environmental Reviews. This provision streamlines the National Environmental Policy Act review process for small and infill housing projects. “Anything we do to reduce permitting times, and therefore permitting costs, is really important,” Tobin noted.
- Community Banks. “The majority of homes built in this country are built by small builders,” Tobin stated. “The backbone of housing finance in this country for builders are the community banks … If we’re going to push for more housing supply, we need to make sure that all the financing mechanisms are there as well.”
The legislation could take several paths since reaching the president’s desk on June 29.
“Hopefully cooler heads prevail, and the president recognizes that this is something he campaigned on — housing affordability — and big bipartisan majorities in Congress support that effort,” Tobin said. “And everyone wants to go home and campaign on this, and deliver on a big issue for Americans.”
What to Expect Ahead of Midterm Elections
Republicans hold a slim majority in the House and the Senate, but even if they flip, it would still be a slim majority for Democrats.
Key topics that may help or hurt on the campaign trail include:
- The Working Families Tax Cuts, or One Big Beautiful Bill Act, was a big victory for NAHB last year. Those tax cuts went into effect for this filing season, and the benefits should be realized soon, which could provide a boost on the campaign trail.
- An uninterrupted government appropriations process, given the disruptions in recent cycles, leading up to Sept. 30 could provide another additional boost.
- The economy remains resilient, but not great, including weakness in housing. Economic factors such as mortgage rates, gas prices and inflationary pressures will need to ease to help Republicans. “I think we have to see some meaningful retrenchment from some of these highs that we’ve seen,” Tobin noted.
Government appropriations, workforce development and electing pro-housing members to Congress will be key topics for NAHB as midterms approach.
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.