President Joe Biden is scheduled to visit Las Vegas on Tuesday and make additional remarks on the policies and priorities of his administration’s push to address housing issues for both renters and buyers. Biden also plans to highlight funding provided to states in the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 to boost affordable housing.
Lael Brainard, the White House’s national economic adviser and director of policy, said the president will use his remarks in Las Vegas to urge Congress to support his housing policies. national economic council.
“The housing affordability crisis for renters and aspiring homeowners has been going on for years, but the previous administration did nothing to address it,” Brainard told reporters. “The President will emphasize a comprehensive housing plan and call on Congress to make bold investments essential to lowering housing costs for millions of Americans.”
These investments are estimated to total about $185 billion, Brainard said. They are tightening the housing market for many Americans by implementing a $10,000 tax credit for first-time homebuyers, which was announced just before Biden took the podium in the House for his recent State of the Union address. The aim is to open up.
“In today’s market, many households looking to buy a first home are shut out by high costs, while many homeowners looking to move are struggling to pay the price they would pay for a new home. “You’re locked into your current mortgage because it’s a lower interest rate than you should be on a home loan,” she said.
Biden’s proposal would also “combine a buyer’s tax credit with a seller’s tax credit of up to $10,000 for middle-class families who sell their starter home to another owner.” The White House estimates that this “could help nearly 3 million households and free up inventory.” It’s the lower end of the market where it’s needed the most,” Brainard said. “These two tax credits are designed to act as a bridge between inflation and mortgage rates as they continue to fall.”
Brainard also commented National Association of Realtors(NAR) recently settled $418 million in damages arising from numerous Real Estate Board lawsuits. NAR also agreed to eliminate the “participation rule,” which requires seller agents to offer compensation to buyer brokers.
“The recent settlement is [NAR] “This is a major step toward increased competition and could potentially save homebuyers and sellers up to $10,000 off the median home price,” Brainard said. “In Nevada, the administration will provide real estate agents and lenders with more options, lower costs, and promote access to homeownership for first-time, low-income and low-asset homebuyers. I will ask for a successful reconciliation.”
Neera Tanden, Biden’s domestic policy adviser, said Las Vegas was chosen for the president’s remarks because of the housing affordability challenges facing Nevada.
“We know that housing affordability is a critical issue in Nevada, and one that the president’s policies will go a long way toward solving,” Tanden said. “That’s why he’s excited to be in Nevada tomorrow and spell out his housing vision because it addresses the challenges facing Nevada families.”
Tanden explained that the president will discuss ways to reduce costs and increase supply in his remarks, adding that the administration is “radically focused on affordability issues facing both renters and homeowners.” I’m guessing,” he said.
To that end, the president said he is calling on Congress to “further expand rental assistance to more than 500,000 families, including providing guaranteed vouchers for low-income veterans and older youth who are no longer eligible for foster care.” Ta. .
But the key issue remains supply, and Tanden echoed what Biden and Brainerd have said on this topic.
“We need to ‘build, build, build,'” Tanden said. “We know [that] To ensure lower rent and home ownership costs, we need to increase the supply of housing, and building more units and increasing affordability will be a primary goal of this administration. ”
When asked by HousingWire about the political agenda of advancing ambitious legislative priorities in a close Congress in an election year, one senior administration official said housing issues are bipartisan. It would be nice if lawmakers recognized this, especially given the housing policies taken by leaders of both parties at the state level.
The official cited such actions by leaders such as Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore and Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey.
“There is a bipartisan sense that we need to increase housing supply,” the official said. “We appreciate that Congress is concerned about costs. This is important and these measures truly address housing supply and affordability. Our hope is that Congress will take these up in a way that reflects its bipartisan nature. Sometimes things don’t go our way, but our hope is that people across the country will truly recognize this challenge and that Congress will also take up these challenges. Recognize it as well.”
HousingWire also asked about HUD Secretary Marcia Fudge’s recent decision to resign from her position. Administration officials praised the involvement of Adrianne Todman, HUD’s current deputy secretary and soon-to-be acting secretary, following Fudge’s resignation.
“It would be hard to think of a deputy chief who was more important to us and had more contact with us than Adrianne Todman,” the official said. “We have full confidence in her. We will miss Secretary Fudge, but we don’t think this will slow her down in the slightest. This is the person who will continue to work through both the American Rescue Plan and the new housing program. , someone we all worked closely with.”
