REAL ESTATE NEWS

In what was set to be the most transformational housing act in decades — now — all of a sudden — has been met with less uncertainty.

After the House and Senate finally hammered out an agreement following months of debate, President Donald Trump, in a Truth Social post today, declared the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act of "minor importance" compared to other policies. This includes the fight for lower interest rates, which is influenced by the Federal Reserve and inflation and the SAVE America Act, a voting reform bill that's received opposition from Congressional Democrats.

Shortly after, Trump followed up with another post, canceling his planned signing of the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act into law this afternoon.

"Today's Housing News Conference and Signing is hereby cancelled until such time as we pass the desperately needed SAVE AMERICA ACT, which I consider to be a National Emergency," he said.

This comes as a surprise, as Trump last month pushed Congress to move the bill forward so it could reach his desk because it would "ensure that homes are for people, not Corporations."

Now, at the very least, some doubt has been cast. After all, it could only be a short-term pressure plan to get Senate Republicans to terminate the filibuster, allowing for a simple majority in the chamber to pass the SAVE America Act.

Keep in mind that Trump will have only 10 days to sign the bill into law from the point it's presented to him. So there isn't much time.

House Speaker Mike Johnson said, following the news, according to Politico, "We're delaying this. As you know, he has a window of time before he has to sign a bill, and he's going to use a little bit more of this window of time and we're going to go through this together."

The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act would provide key provisions, including streamlining federal and local housing processes, allowing builders to get permits faster, boosting production in urban and rural areas and modernizing HUD programs, according to a one-page report from the United States House Committee on Financial Services.

Plus, entities are barred from buying additional single-family rental units above the 349 threshold. But there will be no forced divestiture under the amendments made to the legislation.

It remains unclear what would happen if Trump vetoes the bill within the 10-day window. Congress can override the executive power with a two-thirds vote in both the House and Senate. For now, the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act is being held hostage.

Source: GlobeSt/ALM