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Millions of the nation’s working families — people who teach our children, keep our streets safe and provide the services we depend on — simply cannot afford to live in the communities in which they work.
“A community suffers when the people who provide its essential services go home to a different zip code at the end of the workday,” said Killmer.
To help solve America’s housing challenges, NAHB outlined four policy recommendations to extend homeownership opportunities to those segments of our population who have not yet shared in the dream of owning their own home and to help working Americans to obtain decent, affordable rental housing:
The first is a strong economy with low interest rates. This will raise real incomes, create new jobs and increase the purchasing power of working Americans so they can afford to rent and buy decent shelter.
The second is reliable financing, and for this NAHB insists that the nation maintains its strong and dynamic secondary housing finance market.
“We must make sure that efforts to reform the regulatory structure of the housing government sponsored enterprises do not impede the ability of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Home Loan Banks to do what they do best — which is providing lenders with new mortgage products and ensuring a constant and even flow of credit for home mortgages,” Killmer told the panel.
The third element is federal government support for special programs and tax incentives that can help families buy or rent the kind of home that meets their needs.
NAHB called on the Democratic Platform Drafting Committee to endorse homeownership tax credit legislation pending in both chambers of Congress that would bridge the gap between what it costs to build a high-quality home in an underserved market and what a moderate- or lower-income family can afford to pay.
The government should also provide tax credits that make rents more affordable, as well as appropriate funding for the Low Income Housing Tax Credit (currently the only significant federal incentive for expanding the stock of affordable rental housing for low-income families).
NAHB noted that other government tax incentives, including deductibility of mortgage interest and exemption of capital gains on the sale of a principal residence, are also essential components of federal support for housing and homeownership.
The fourth and final element is sound land-use and regulatory policies at the local and state levels.
In almost all communities where there’s a housing affordability problem, the cause is tied to a shortage of buildable land. This land-supply shortage is often directly attributable to unwise, and even conflicting, policies established by local governments, including large-lot zoning and urban growth boundaries.
High impact fees and restrictions on higher-density housing such as apartments rule out more affordable housing options and force development further out in order to meet housing demand.
“These regulatory barriers to affordable housing must be reformed by local governments in order to ensure an adequate housing supply, which will keep home prices more affordable and preserve housing choice,” said Killmer.
The Democratic Party Platform will be unveiled in late July at the Democratic National Convention in Boston.
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