Most Americans across party lines want the federal government to do something about housing costs. Whether Washington, D.C., will deliver is a different question.
Roughly 4 in 5 U.S. residents, or 79 percent, believe there should be tax breaks for first-time homebuyers, and 77 percent say there should be policies that make homes more affordable, according to a Redfin survey conducted by Ipsos in May 2026 of 4,000 U.S. adults.
Support holds across political affiliations. Eighty-three percent of Democrats say there should be policies making homes more affordable, as do 74 percent of Republicans, the survey found. Eighty-five percent of Democrats support first-time buyer tax breaks, compared to 77 percent of Republicans.
Three-quarters of respondents back caps on rent increases, 75 percent support initiatives for building homes for low-income families and 74 percent favor down payment assistance programs.
A bill that matches the moment
Those numbers align with the broad backing behind the ROAD to Housing Act, which Congress passed on June 23. The legislation targets the nationwide housing affordability crisis by increasing housing supply, streamlining building processes and expanding access to affordable homeownership, including through provisions to expand manufactured housing by reducing federal regulations.
But the bill has not been signed into law. President Trump canceled a scheduled signing ceremony on June 25, saying he would not enact the legislation until the Senate passed an unrelated voter restriction bill, according to reporting by The New York Times. Trump has described the housing measure as being “of minor importance,” The Times reported, even as members of his own party have promoted it ahead of November midterm elections.
What happens next
Speaker Mike Johnson said Thursday he would formally send the bill to Trump after meeting with the president at the White House, a step that starts a constitutionally mandated 10-day window — excluding Sundays — in which Trump must sign or veto it.
Daryl Fairweather | Redfin
If he takes neither action, it becomes law without his signature, though legal questions remain about whether a pocket veto could occur during a congressional recess scheduled to begin July 3, The Times reported.
“For over a decade, the prevailing view was that housing was a local issue best left to city councils and mayors — but housing affordability has become a national crisis,” Redfin Chief Economist Daryl Fairweather said. “By passing this bill out of the Senate Banking Committee 24-0, Republicans and Democrats alike showed that affordability is a priority. The great accomplishment of the bill itself is that it uses solutions like zoning reform and improved permitting to prove that government policies can make people better off without spending big.”
