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It might not be a big hit with most Americans, but the “big, beautiful bill” that squeaked through the Senate Tuesday includes a number of perks the real estate industry has lobbied hard for.
The budget reconciliation bill — which would extend tax cuts enacted in 2017 and cut spending on programs like Medicaid, among other things — is headed back to the House for final approval after a 51-50 Senate vote.
With Republicans Susan Collins, Rand Paul and Thom Tillis voting against the bill, it was up to Vice President J.D. Vance to cast the tie-breaking vote in the Senate.
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Key provisions for the real estate industry include protections for the mortgage interest deduction — which makes interest payments on mortgage debt up to $750,000 tax deductible — and a quadrupling of the state and local tax (SALT) deduction cap.
Lobbyists for the National Association of Realtors have been working to persuade lawmakers for months of the value of those and other perks, the trade group said Tuesday, boasting that NAR secured its top five objectives in the Senate bill.
Shannon McGahn
“We were invited to the White House on Friday — just days before the final vote — to continue advocating for our members and consumers as the Senate version took shape,” NAR Chief Advocacy Officer Shannon McGahn said in a statement. “The administration and Congress respect the voice of our members and the roles they play as leaders in their communities. We are an army of advocates living and working in every ZIP code in America with a unique insight into the state of the economy.”
In addition to the mortgage interest deduction and SALT deduction cap, NAR’s top priorities included a permanent extension of lower individual tax rates, an enhanced and permanent qualified business income deduction, and protection for business SALT deductions and 1031 like-kind exchanges.
The Mortgage Bankers Association also had praise for the bill, including a provision that would raise the federal debt ceiling by $5 trillion and avert a government shutdown that could send mortgage rates soaring.
Bob Broeksmit
MBA President and CEO Bob Broeksmit said the bill builds on the version previously passed by the house by allowing continued tax breaks for investment in Opportunity Zones, and improvements to the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program that will facilitate more housing production.
“MBA will work with congressional leaders in the coming days to ensure that these beneficial tax policies remain intact in any final package signed into law by President Trump,” Broeksmit said in a statement.
David Dworkin
National Housing Conference President and CEO David Dworkin has called the LIHTC “the most effective tool to build and preserve affordable rental housing,” and estimated that plans to lower the bond financing threshold could produce or preserve more than 1 million affordable rental homes over the next decade.
In more general terms, the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) urged House passage of the bill, saying it will spur economic growth and allow builders to invest more in multifamily rental construction, land development for single-family homes, and new equipment.
Buddy Hughes
“This will create a better business climate that allows builders to increase the nation’s housing supply, which is crucial to help ease America’s housing affordability crisis,” Lexington-based homebuilder and 2025 NAHB Chairman Buddy Hughes said in a statement.
Outside of real estate industry trade groups, the bill has been polarizing. Many Americans are specifically anxious about the “big, beautiful bill’s” cuts to federal programs including Medicaid, and some Republicans share those concerns, Axios noted. But some fiscally conservative Republicans who are concerned the bill’s tax breaks will add to budget deficits had advocated for even deeper spending cuts.
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