Affordability Tops the Agenda in the Year Ahead

Addressing housing affordability concerns will be a top issue for NAHB in 2019 and we will be working with Congress and the administration to achieve this goal.

Builders in the field report there is a strong demand for new homes but that prospective buyers have become increasingly gun shy due to rising mortgage rates in recent months coupled with the aggregate run-up in pricing.

A vibrant housing market is critical to a strong economy. Rising home costs threaten the ongoing housing and economic recovery.

Federal policymakers need to address this issue by taking appropriate steps to ease needless regulatory burdens that will help stabilize residential market conditions.

Working With a New Congress

As the 116th Congress convenes today, Democrats are in control of the House for the first time since 2010 while Republicans have expanded their majority in the Senate.

Going forward, NAHB looks to find common ground with the new Congress. We will continue to focus on:

• Lowering the cost of regulation.
• Reforming the nation’s housing finance system to ensure that single-family and multifamily housing credit remains readily available and affordable.
• Promoting job training programs that will help ensure an ample supply of well-trained workers to build the nation’s homes.
• Pursuing immigration policies that complement ongoing vocational training efforts and help fill labor gaps while protecting the nation’s borders.
• Refining tax policy and enhancing the Low Income Housing Tax Credit.
• Creating a national flood insurance program that is predictable and affordable.
• Enabling a supply of softwood lumber sufficient to meet demand.
• Improving and streamlining the federal permitting process.

The next two years give NAHB an opportunity to forge a new bipartisan coalition among housing advocates in the House and Senate to drive housing affordability, both ownership and rental, to the top of the national agenda.

For further analysis on how the new Congress could affect housing, visit nahb.org/2018election summary.