Hearings to examine innovation in U.S. housing, focusing on solutions and policies for America's future.
Housing Opportunity and Community Development
2025-10-21
Source: Congress.gov
Summary
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Participants
Transcript
The committee will come to order. Ranking Member Smith, I just want to say thank you for your willingness to be a part of this subcommittee hearing. I have certainly appreciated getting to work with you and I'm excited about what we can accomplish together. Of course, I want to thank all of the witnesses for being here. Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to make sure that we address this important issue. And I am particularly excited to have an Alabama presence here, Roll Tide, and look forward to hearing from all of you. As we know, Americans are facing a squeeze when it comes to our country's affordable housing shortage. Estimates show a deficit of up to 4.7 million housing units that we need to actually meet the demands, and an even bigger gap when it comes to affordability of rental units. We know the average first-time home buyer is no longer in their 20s, but actually in their late 30s or even early 40s. The median home sell prices in the second quarter of 2025 was over $410,000. It's no wonder that around 75% of U.S. households are unable to afford the median priced home. NOW, WHILE THIS IS SLIGHTLY DOWN FROM THE SAME TIME IN 2024, WHICH WAS $415,000, IT IS JUST NOT AFFORDABLE FOR EVERYDAY AMERICANS. RECENT POLLING INDICATES THAT BETWEEN 68 AND 86% OF RENTERS IN THE U.S. ACTUALLY WANT TO BUY A HOME, BUT CANNOT AFFORD IT. SHOWING HOMEOWNERSHIP REMAINS A FOUNDATIONAL ELEMENT TO THE AMERICAN DREAM, BUT AS WE CAN SEE, IS OUT OF REACH FOR SO MANY. This is not a partisan issue. This, in fact, affects families in Alabama and in Minnesota and in every state across our great nation. The core of this issue is not just affordability, it's also availability.
In too many communities, including small towns, there are simply not enough homes being built to meet the needs of hardworking families. The rising demand paired with a limited supply has continued to escalate the cost. We also know that if there is no place to live, it is much harder to attract business and investment, to recruit talent, or to keep the next generation rooted in the communities that we love. This issue is multifaceted, and so therefore there is no easy solution. Overregulation certainly plays a part. 24% of the cost of a single-family home, a new one, and 40% of a multifamily development are directly contributed to by regulation. Now think about that. Anywhere between a quarter to 40%. if a new home price is directly attributed to regulation. That's significant. Not to mention the building delays that excessive regulation can cause. Now much of this is at the state and at the local level, and so it's important for us to call out what's happening on the federal level, but also be honest about the role that the state and localities play, whether it's permitting rules, land use, or zoning requirements that can cause barriers to construction. But the federal government obviously has a role to play. We can help identify solutions by removing red tape and encouraging localities to update their rules. And we can successfully have individuals here, like you, testifying and bringing awareness to successful innovations, like the Fortified Roof Program. I'm certainly looking forward to hearing about that, Dr. Powell. Now let me be clear, solving the housing shortage is not about more bureaucracy, it's not about spending more or more government subsidies, it's about unleashing locally driven solutions and cutting red tape while empowering builders and incentivizing private sector investment.
This hearing titled Innovation in the U.S. Housing, Solutions and Policies for America's Future. And that's what I want to focus on. Let's look forward and figure out how we help Americans meet the needs in front of them. We recently unanimously passed a housing bill in this committee, which is pretty remarkable. The Road to Housing Act passed 24 to 0. Today we're going to hear how implementing many of the solutions included in the bill can help to expand production and development and make home ownership an option for more Americans. We can also hear about innovative solutions like factory-built housing and the role manufactured and modular homes can play, particularly in reaching more of the population. IN FACT, I WORKED DIRECTLY WITH THE FHFA ON THEIR EFFORT TO UPDATE THE FINANCING PROGRAMS TO ALLOW MORE FLEXIBLE OPTIONS FOR SINGLE SECTIONS CROSS MOD HOMES. THIS WILL ALLOW MORE PERSPECTIVE HOME BUYERS TO CONSIDER THIS TYPE OF HOME WHICH PROVIDES A MORE OBTAINABLE PRICE POINT WITHOUT COMPROMISING ON QUALITY. Additionally, as we are unleashing more production and building more homes, we want to ensure that the homes we built last and that we are properly preserving the housing stock that we currently have. On that note, today we will also hear about thoughtful approaches to building strong and leveraging public-private partnerships to be successful. At the end of the day, we must work together to eliminate barriers of home ownership. Owning a home is something that all Americans should have the opportunity to access and reach. I look forward to using what we learned today to help achieve that very goal.
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