4.7 million. That’s how many homes the country is short. On Tuesday, Congress passed its most significant response to that shortage in 36 years, but whether President Trump will sign it remains unclear.
The nation’s supply of for-sale homes has dropped more than 25 percent since 1995 — from 1.58 million units to 1.18 million — and the median age of a first-time buyer has climbed to 40, according to National Association of Realtors data presented in Senate testimony. The 21st Century Road to Housing Act is Congress’ most sweeping attempt to reverse that trend.
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The House voted 358-32 Tuesday to pass the bipartisan measure, sending it to President Trump’s desk. The Senate passed the same bill Monday 85-5. But on Wednesday, Trump abruptly canceled a planned signing event, posting on Truth Social that he would not rubber stamp the housing bill until Congress passes the SAVE America Act.
In a separate post, Trump called the housing bill “of minor importance” and described it as a “Warren centric housing bill,” a reference to Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, one of the bill’s lead negotiators. It is not clear whether Trump plans to sign the bill or veto it.
The SAVE America Act would require eligible voters to provide proof of citizenship — such as a valid U.S. passport or a birth certificate plus photo ID — when registering to vote, according to NPR. The measure passed the House in February 2026 on a near party-line vote but failed in the Senate on June 4, after Republican leadership said it did not have the votes to overcome the 60-vote threshold needed to clear the legislative filibuster. Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters after the vote: “It’s about the votes. It’s about the math,” according to NPR.
The housing bill would hand Republicans a major legislative accomplishment heading into November, according to NBC News, at a time when voters rank the cost of living as a top concern, and some in the party are worried the Iran war’s effect on gas prices could cost them control of Congress.
What the 21st Century Road to Housing Act does
The legislation combines nearly 50 individual housing proposals targeting supply, affordability, financing, zoning, workforce development and property rehabilitation, according to NAR.
On the construction side, the bill loosens federal regulations and streamlines environmental reviews to speed up and reduce costs. It also funds communities that are actively adding housing to improve infrastructure, a provision designed to reduce one of the most common local barriers to new development.
Manufactured housing gets a significant update. Homes built in a factory will no longer be required to include a steel chassis to meet federal standards, according to the New York Times, a change that could reduce costs by thousands of dollars per unit and expand the range of designs factories can produce. The bill also eases lending rules for manufactured homes and provides grants to repair existing stock.
For rural and entry-level markets, the bill creates a pilot program to expand access to mortgages of $100,000 or less and examines regulations that may be limiting small-dollar loan origination, a threshold that has locked some buyers out of financing in lower-cost markets. The shortage is acute for middle-income households: NAR research shows that the market is short about 310,000 homes priced at $261,000 or less.
The investor cap
The provision agents have watched most closely puts new limits on corporate ownership of single-family homes. Under the bill, corporate entities are prohibited from owning more than 350 existing single-family homes. The cap does not require divestment of properties purchased before the bill becomes law.
An earlier version of the legislation would have required investors to sell single-family homes built as rentals after seven years, the Times reported. That provision was dropped following opposition from homebuilders and affordable housing advocates, who argued it would discourage new construction.
Trump called for making institutional investor restrictions permanent in a National Homeownership Month proclamation issued June 12, describing an executive order directing federal agencies to block corporations from using government-backed resources to outbid homebuyers.
Industry reaction
National Association of Realtors
The bill’s passage came after nearly two years of sustained advocacy by NAR and its nearly 1.5 million members. Nearly 8,000 Realtors traveled to Washington last week for the Realtors Legislative Meetings, holding hundreds of meetings on Capitol Hill in a final push toward passage.
“We are deeply grateful for the leadership and commitment shown by members of the House and Senate, as well as the White House, to do something big on housing affordability,” NAR Executive Vice President and Chief Advocacy Officer Shannon McGahn said. “This is the most significant housing legislation to pass Congress in nearly 20 years.”
NAR 2026 President Kevin Brown testified before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs at a hearing titled “The Affordability Agenda,” urging lawmakers to advance the bill. Brown outlined additional policy priorities, including expanded financing tools for starter homes and an increase to the capital gains exclusion on primary residence sales.
“You can’t build an advocacy operation like this overnight,” McGahn said. “It took years of building relationships with policymakers, backing our case with NAR research and sustained engagement from Realtors across the country.”
American Land Title Association
ALTA CEO Chris Morton applauded passage of the bill in a statement Tuesday, calling it a meaningful step toward addressing supply and affordability challenges.
“Homeownership is an essential part of the American dream,” Morton said. “The 21st Century Road to Housing Act will unlock housing supply across the country and help more Americans achieve that dream.”
National Consumer Law Center
For advocates focused on housing equity, the bill’s reach extends beyond supply. The National Consumer Law Center praised the legislation in a statement Tuesday for provisions targeting low- and moderate-income families and communities of color — groups the organization said face the steepest barriers to homeownership and the fewest resources to recover when things go wrong.
Chief among those provisions is the Reforming Disaster Recovery Act, which NCLC and more than 550 other organizations supported. The measure authorizes the Community Development Block Grant Disaster Relief program for three years and includes safeguards designed to ensure federal disaster support reaches the lowest-income survivors — households that are often hardest-hit and least equipped to rebuild without assistance.
The bill also takes aim at appraisal bias, requiring mortgage lenders to maintain procedures that allow consumers to request a second appraisal when they believe their home’s value was assessed unfairly — an issue that has disproportionately affected Black and Latino homeowners.
“This bipartisan legislative package moves us closer to becoming a nation where all people can count on housing stability and equity,” said Alys Cohen, director of federal housing advocacy and acting co-director of federal advocacy at NCLC.
eXp Realty
Leo Pareja, CEO of eXp Realty, said the bill signals a shift in Washington’s approach to the supply problem, but cautioned agents not to expect a quick fix.
“This bill sends a clear message that Washington recognizes America has a housing supply problem, and Congress is serious about addressing it,” Pareja told Inman. “I’ve been predicting for months that we’re more likely to see a mortgage rate with a 7 in front of it before we see one with a 5. If mortgage rates remain elevated, which I believe is a real possibility, creating more housing inventory becomes even more important. We can’t rely on lower borrowing costs alone to improve affordability and increase housing mobility. Housing takes years to build, so this legislation won’t create inventory overnight. Still, it’s an important step towards reducing some of the financing and regulatory barriers that slow development of the housing supply the country needs.”
What to expect
The bill is supply-side legislation, and its impact will depend on how quickly communities build and how lenders respond to the new rules. If signed, relief for buyers and renters would not be immediate since housing production takes time, and the shortage accumulated over more than a decade of underbuilding.
Agents can watch for movement in manufactured housing inventory, loosening of small-dollar mortgage origination in rural markets, and any shifts in corporate-owned single-family inventory as the investor cap takes effect.
Trump called the legislation “the most comprehensive and consequential housing legislation in the history of our country” in the June 12 proclamation before canceling the signing on Wednesday. When he will sign the bill, or whether he will sign it at all, remains unclear.
