NAHB offers affordability solution to Congress
As the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) recognizes National Homeownership Month in June, it also wants Congress to address the biggest issue holding home ownership back: housing affordability.
According to NAHB Chairman Greg Ugalde, lessening regulations that burden builders in both time and cost could be part of the solution.
“Removing regulatory barriers that contribute to the increased costs of housing will pave the way to homeownership,” Ugalde said in a statement issued by the NAHB. Ugalde is also a builder and developer from Torrington, Conn. “Home builders and the residential construction community are committed to working with Congress to ensure homeownership is within reach of hard working families.”
In addition to excessive regulations, the NAHB points to a shortage of construction workers, tariffs on $10 billion worth of building materials, and housing finance concerns as major thorns in the side of housing affordability. The NAHB also said that its own analysis shows that regulatory requirements alone account for 25% of the price of a single-family home, and 30% the cost of a multifamily development.
And despite mortgage interest rates falling in recent months, the affordability situation remains the same.
The NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index found only 61% of new and existing homes were affordable to a typical household. The current homeownership rate (64.2%) remains below the 25-year average rate (66.3%), according to the Census Bureau’s Housing Vacancy Survey (HVS).
More than half of buyers, or 53%, actively searching for a home in the first quarter of 2019 have been looking for three months or longer, according to NAHB’s Housing Trends Report (HTR).
Home buyers say high home prices are the principal barrier to homeownership with 78% of buyers saying they could afford less than half of the homes for-sale in their markets.
According to NAHB Chairman Greg Ugalde, lessening regulations that burden builders in both time and cost could be part of the solution.
“Removing regulatory barriers that contribute to the increased costs of housing will pave the way to homeownership,” Ugalde said in a statement issued by the NAHB. Ugalde is also a builder and developer from Torrington, Conn. “Home builders and the residential construction community are committed to working with Congress to ensure homeownership is within reach of hard working families.”
In addition to excessive regulations, the NAHB points to a shortage of construction workers, tariffs on $10 billion worth of building materials, and housing finance concerns as major thorns in the side of housing affordability. The NAHB also said that its own analysis shows that regulatory requirements alone account for 25% of the price of a single-family home, and 30% the cost of a multifamily development.
And despite mortgage interest rates falling in recent months, the affordability situation remains the same.
The NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index found only 61% of new and existing homes were affordable to a typical household. The current homeownership rate (64.2%) remains below the 25-year average rate (66.3%), according to the Census Bureau’s Housing Vacancy Survey (HVS).
More than half of buyers, or 53%, actively searching for a home in the first quarter of 2019 have been looking for three months or longer, according to NAHB’s Housing Trends Report (HTR).
Home buyers say high home prices are the principal barrier to homeownership with 78% of buyers saying they could afford less than half of the homes for-sale in their markets.