Why It Matters
Federal housing policy is at an inflection point, with affordability pressures spreading beyond low-income households into the middle class, a Congressional Research Service (CRS) report on housing issues in the 119th Congress finds. The report, updated Sept. 25, was coordinated by Katie Jones, a specialist in housing policy at CRS.
Among renters earning $45,000 to $74,999, the share considered cost-burdened — paying more than 30 percent of income on housing — rose from 39 percent in 2019 to 48 percent in 2024. At the lower end, 83 percent of renters earning under $30,000 remain cost-burdened, as do 75 percent of low-income homeowners in that bracket.
The Trump administration has proposed eliminating disparate impact fair housing regulations and restricting noncitizen eligibility for rental assistance. The House Appropriations Committee explicitly criticized the noncitizen eligibility proposal as "contrary to the intent of Congress."
The Big Picture
Two laws enacted during the 119th Congress mark the most significant federal housing legislation in years. The fiscal year 2025 budget reconciliation law (P.L. 119-21), signed July 4, 2025, expanded the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC), the largest federal program supporting the development and rehabilitation of affordable rental housing, and made permanent the mortgage interest deduction limits and Opportunity Zone program from the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.
The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act (P.L. 119-101) became law in July without the President's signature. It prohibits companies owning 350 or more single-family homes from acquiring additional properties beginning Jan. 7, 2027, streamlines environmental reviews for infill and affordable housing, and expands Community Development Block Grant eligibility to include new construction.
On the supply side, single-family housing starts stood at roughly 940,000 in 2025, well below the 1.5 million to 1.7 million starts recorded annually before 2007. Homes for sale reached 1.7 million at the end of 2025, the highest since 2019 but still below every year from 1995 through 2019.
Thirty-year fixed mortgage rates ranged between 6.05 percent and 6.67 percent during the first eight months of 2026, down from a peak of 7.62 percent in October 2023 but far above the sub-3 percent rates seen in 2021. Homeowners insurance rates rose faster than inflation in 44 states and the District of Columbia between 2020 and 2025, with U.S. insured natural disaster losses reaching $107 billion in 2025.
The Bottom Line
Several consequential questions remain unresolved heading into the final stretch of the 119th Congress. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have remained in conservatorship since 2008, and while the Trump administration has expressed interest in returning them to publicly traded status, Congress has not yet acted. Reauthorization of the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act and the National Flood Insurance Program also remain pending.
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