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A group of lawmakers on Capitol Hill have announced the new Bipartisan Congressional Real Estate Caucus, which will address the lack of housing affordability and inventory nationwide.
The National Association of REALTORS®, along with the National Association of Home Builders, Mortgage Bankers Association, American Land Title Association and other groups, lauded the move as a step toward creating more policies that could help to resolve some of the housing market’s most pressing issues.
Housing supply tops the new caucus’s agenda. Researchers have placed the national housing shortage at anywhere from a 1.5 million- to 5.5. million-unit deficit, pointing to population growth and housing underproduction across the country. Economists blame the inventory shortage for rising home prices.
“Lawmakers from across the political spectrum are in overwhelming agreement that this nation is facing a housing affordability crisis," NAR said in a statement. "Homeownership is a bipartisan issue, and we applaud these members of Congress for forming a caucus to work across the aisle to make housing more accessible. We look forward to working closely with this group to further advance our advocacy efforts to increase the housing supply and help individuals from all backgrounds find a path to homeownership.”
The caucus will help develop policies aimed at increasing the nation’s housing supply and providing more homeownership and rental housing opportunities to more Americans.
“This caucus will help advance housing policy—for both renters and prospective homeowners—and develop opportunities for Congress to take action to ensure healthy real estate markets and identify solutions to alleviate the housing affordability crisis our country is facing,” the Mortgage Bankers Association said in a statement.
The National Multifamily Housing Council echoed that sentiment, adding that “housing is now a kitchen table issue for Americans in every community across the country. This is the time for lawmakers from both sides of the aisle to roll up their sleeves and enact policies that will expand the supply of needed housing for all.”
Reps. Mark Alford (R-Mo.), J. Luis Correa (D-Calif.), Tracey Mann (R-Kan.) and Brittan Pettersen (D-Colo.) were credited for launching the caucus. “Housing has no political party, and it is time to bring commonsense, bipartisan solutions across the finish line,” the National Apartment Association said in a statement.
