Sunday, March 15, 2026

The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act

The Senate has passed a sweeping piece of housing legislation that seeks to bolster the U.S. housing supply and lower costs for home-buyers in an overwhelming bipartisan vote.

Republican Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina and Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, who coauthored the Senate housing bill, celebrated its passage in the upper chamber on Thursday.

"The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act will boost housing supply and bring down costs," said Warren in a statement.

Posted by corky at 08:23 PM | 4 COMMENTS | permalink

Comments

"The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act would be the largest housing package to be signed into law in decades. After passing the Senate by a vote of 89-10 on Thursday, the bill now heads to the House, where it faces an uncertain path despite the broad support it garnered in the upper chamber.

The House passed its own version of the legislation last month, but several lawmakers have voiced opposition to certain changes made by Senators, including a provision that would bar institutional investors from owning single-family homes."

;;

Barring corporations from screwing over families who want to buy homes?

Trump's House Republicans say, "Not on our watch!".

#1 | Posted by Corky at 2026-03-15 08:28 PM

@#1 ... including a provision that would bar institutional investors from owning single-family homes. ...

I see that around here.

Private equity (which has, imo, destroyed healthcare for their profits) seems to be buying up single-family homes in order to rent those homes out to Gen-Z.

There's a two-fold effect in that process...

1) a reduction of single-family homes that can be purchased by first-time home-buyers.

2) the resulting drastic increase in price of those fewer available homes that can be purchased.

Yeah, while the estimated resale price of my house has increased over 75% since 2020, I still have a concern for those who want to buy their first home.

I bought my first home when I was in my late-20's.

Is that possible nowadays?


#2 | Posted by LampLighter at 2026-03-15 08:42 PM

"bolster the U.S. housing supply"

How's that supposed to help?

There's literally millions of vacant houses in the United States right now.

Search Assist
As of 2024, there were approximately 15.1 million vacant homes in the United States, which represents about 10.3% of the country's housing inventory. This number has decreased significantly from nearly 19 million homes following the 2008 housing crisis.

#3 | Posted by snoofy at 2026-03-15 10:04 PM

@#3 ... How's that supposed to help?

There's literally millions of vacant houses in the United States right now. ...

At what cost to purchase compared to income of first-time home buyers? Maybe the asking price is a problem?

When I bought my house. the mortgage amount (with a 15% down payment) was between two- and three-times my household income.

What is the mortgage amount compared to household income nowadays?

Found this ...

Home Price-to-Income Ratio Reaches Record High (January 2024)
www.jchs.harvard.edu

... In 2022, the median sale price for a single-family home in the US was 5.6 times higher than the median household income, higher than at any point on record dating back to the early 1970s. ...

As the interactive shows, home prices have soared relative to incomes in a growing number of metro areas. Indeed, among the 100 largest markets in the country, 48 had a price-to-income ratio exceeding 5.0 in 2022, including seven markets with a price-to-income ratio above 8.0.

By comparison, 15 markets had price-to-income ratios above 5.0 as recently as 2019 and just five markets had ratios that high in 2000 (Figure 2). With the rapid rise in prices since the beginning of the pandemic, price-to-income ratios have reached all-time highs in 78 of the nation's 100 largest markets.

Only Syracuse had a price-to-income ratio under 3.0 among large markets in 2022. Price-to-income ratios that low were the norm across much of the country in prior decades.

Indeed, fully two-thirds of large markets had price-to-income ratios below
3.0 as recently as 2000. ...


#4 | Posted by LampLighter at 2026-03-15 11:59 PM

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