TUCSON, Ariz (KGUN) — There’s a snag in a housing bill so popular with both parties that they passed it by a wide margin.
President Trump is refusing to sign the bill until Congress passes a law with tougher voting requirements.
The bill could still pass automatically in ten days if Congress sends the White House the bill and the President still doesn’t sign it.
“It can be very hard to be able to buy a house anymore. Now both parties in Congress have passed a new bill by very strong margins to make it easier to buy a house and easier for builders to build more supply.
For many people the ideal is for young adults to buy an affordable home, start a family, let the home grow in value, then use the value in that home to buy a better home.
But Romeo Arrietta of the Tucson Association of Realtors says affordable homes have become so rare that’s not happening the way that it used to.
“The average first-time homebuyer age has gone up to 40, and if we are able to unlock those first time homes for people at a younger age, they're going to be building equity and building a stable financial future earlier.”
He and some local realtors were in DC last week urging Members of Congress to pass a housing bill to ease the barriers to low cost homes.
Both parties pulled together to pass the bill by unusually strong margins: 358 to 32 in the House and 85 to 5 in the Senate.
The bill has a long list of provisions. Here’s just a sample:
To speed up construction, the bill waives environmental reviews if other properties next to them have already been cleared.
It sets Federal incentives for local authorities to streamline construction including using pre-approved designs.
It changes requirements for modular housing to make factory built homes less expensive
And explores incentives for lenders to grant smaller mortgages of 100 thousand dollars or less.
To limit lack of competition driving up rental markets, The bill sets a cap of 350 on how many single family homes a corporation can own. The rule does not affect companies that built new homes specifically to rent them.
David Godlewski of the Southern Arizona Homebuilders Association says builders are always seeking a smart balance of supply and demand. He says the bill’s strong support by both parties shows they recognize how important affordable housing is.
“We've seen prices go up and up and up. We know that people are struggling to get into the homes, especially those first-time homebuyers. So, when you've got politicians from both sides of the aisle, I think that demonstrates how real and significant the issue is.”
Once it officially becomes law, the bill’s impact will take awhile to translate into cheaper homes. It will take time for the bill’s provisions to influence housing markets and the homes themselves take time to build.
