10
Loading video...
By Giulia Carbonaro
Senior Reporter
0
Share
Newsweek is a Trust Project member
See more of our trusted coverage when you search.Prefer Newsweek on Googleto see more of our trusted coverage when you search.
Housing affordability has emerged as a rare bipartisan issue this year, with Republicans and Democrats in Congress joining forces this summer to pass historic legislation aimed at addressing the country's affordability crisis.
Both parties overwhelmingly supported the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, a sweeping package designed to increase the country's housing supply and improve affordability by cutting regulatory barriers, encouraging new construction, expanding access to housing finance and reforming federal housing programs.
"The groundswell of public support that made the ROAD to Housing Act a bipartisan success shows that housing is not a red-or-blue issue," Joel Berner, a senior economist at Realtor.com, told Newsweek. "All across the country people are considering creative solutions to deal with the challenges the housing market faces."
Read More on News
Because of Americans' widespread support for housing reform that would give buyers and sellers some relief, Berner expects more housing legislation to be passed regardless of which party takes charge after the midterms "because it clearly matters to their constituents."
While these elections will not decide whether housing reform happens in the coming months, "it will decide how that reform is carried out and what ends up getting funded," Pete Carroll, the executive vice president of public policy and industry relations at the real estate data and analytics platform Cotality, told Newsweek.
...
What If Republicans Remain in Control
If voters do not punish Republicans too harshly for the rising cost of living and the party maintains control of Congress, Berner believes Republican leaders "would probably focus on deregulatory efforts more than subsidy programs, so they are more likely to appropriate fewer new dollars for housing."
Deregulation—which the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act pushed for—would make new home construction easier and faster, helping the country fix the existing gap of affordable homes, which White House economists estimate to be about 10 million. Experts have long said that adding supply is the only surefire way to fix the country's housing affordability crisis.
"This deregulatory work, especially as it relates to zoning and permitting reform, is really what we are hoping to see become a reality," Berner said. "We hope both Democrats and Republicans see that as the central issue and do what they can from a federal level to incentivize it."
Carroll believes that "the deregulatory core" of the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act is going to move forward regardless of who wins in November. "Implementation is already underway, with the Treasury having issued the first of several proposed rules to put the act's ban on large institutional investors buying single-family homes into effect," he said.
The Treasury proposed a rule on October 22 that would bar large institutional investors from buying single-family homes, absent specific exceptions, saying that the proposal seeks to "make homeownership more affordable for hardworking Americans."
The proposal would implement one of the most controversial sections of the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, which became law without Trump's signature earlier this year. Starting January 7, 2027, investors that control 350 or more single-family homes will not be allowed to buy more units, unless the purchase qualifies for an exception. Homes bought before the law was enacted on July 11 do not have to be sold.
...
If Republicans hold their majority, the emphasis will stay on "things like faster environmental reviews and zoning reform, with limited new spending and lighter oversight of the agencies," Carroll added.
The real open question, according to Carroll, is funding for the new grant programs the law created, such as the Innovation Fund, the planning grants and the Accelerating Home Building grants. "The current stopgap expires in December, and whether Congress funds those programs this year or leaves them to the new Congress will be the first real test of the law," he said.
"Republicans see deregulation, rather than new spending, as the main way to get more housing built. Their approach is to cut red tape around permitting and environmental reviews, and much of that can be done through agency rules that don't require new money from Congress," Carroll continued.
A "fairly clear" signal of Republicans' priorities, when it comes to housing, comes from the House's FY2027 funding bill, Carroll said, which cuts the HOME program by $750 million, even though the ROAD Act has just reauthorized it.
"On top of that, government funding as a whole is already heavily contested, so new housing grants are unlikely to be near the top of the list," he added. "Taken together, it's hard to expect significant new money for these programs under continued Republican control."
In short, if Republicans maintain control of Congress:
- The federal government will likely focus on deregulation to boost new housing construction.
- Programs that need new money might struggle to get it once current government funding runs out in December.
- The institutional investor ban, already underway, is expected to happen no matter who wins.
What If Democrats Flip House and Senate
If Democrats win the House but are unable to flip the Senate on November 3, Carroll expects them to push to fund the grant programs created under the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, along with resilience and disaster mitigation and the Federal Housing Administration's (FHA) small-dollar mortgage pilot.
He also believes Democrats will call for a "much more aggressive oversight" of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, Department of Housing and Urban Development, and Treasury.
The Downpayment Toward Equity Act of 2025, a bill sponsored by Democratic Representative Maxine Waters of California, "would also have an easier path through the House, although it would still face the Senate and a presidential veto," Carroll said. The bill would provide $100 billion in direct assistance to help first-time, first-generation homebuyers with housing costs.
If Democrats realize their biggest ambitions and take control of both chambers, "they'd have real leverage over must-pass spending bills," Carroll said. "But the filibuster and the veto would still limit how much new legislation they could get through."
In short, if Democrats win control of Congress:
- They will likely push money toward transit-oriented development—building more housing, often at a higher density, around public transport hubs and corridors.
- The Downpayment Toward Equity Act, also known as the $25,000 down payment bill, becomes more likely to pass.
- The FHA small-dollar loan pilot for mortgages of $100,000 or less becomes more likely to pass, though it would require negotiations with Republicans.
- More money is likely to go to climate resilience and disaster mitigation funding, which would directly affect home insurance premiums.
No matter who wins, Americans can expect action on the housing front. According to Carroll, improving housing affordability is "one of the few areas where a deal across party lines is genuinely realistic, even in a divided government."
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Matthew Robinson and Shakeema Edwards.
View 0 Comments
Submit Correction
View Editorial & AI Guidelines