Staff Reports
HUD Secretary Scott Turner stepped up this week with an exclusive defense of the Trump administration’s housing agenda after fresh data showed builder confidence plunging to a 14‑year low. The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index dropped to 29, and Turner used the moment to argue that cutting red tape — not piling on rules — is the real path to housing affordability.
Builder confidence hits a wall — and the numbers are stark
The NAHB reading is not a pep talk. The HMI fell to 29, the lowest since June 2012. All three parts of the index slipped: current sales conditions, sales expectations, and prospective‑buyer traffic. Builders reported higher use of price cuts and incentives, and many said rising mortgage rates — north of 7 percent — plus higher materials and energy costs have pushed buyers to the sidelines. In plain English: people are priced out and builders are bracing for a slowdown.
Turner’s answer: cut costs, clear permits, free builders to build
Turner didn’t offer platitudes. He said, “America cannot regulate its way to housing affordability,” and pointed to a stack of administration actions meant to lower costs and speed construction. That includes executive orders to remove regulatory barriers, steps to expand mortgage access, loosening certain federal energy‑code mandates, and changes to FHA policy to help build‑to‑rent and small‑scale housing qualify for financing. The message was simple: if you want more homes, make it cheaper and faster to build them.
Reality check: policy has to meet market pressure
Critics will howl about environmental rollbacks and fair‑housing tradeoffs. That’s the usual theater while real Americans watch mortgage payments climb and inventory shrink. Yes, higher rates and labor shortages matter — but so do permits that take years and rules that tack tens of thousands onto a home’s price. If regulators prefer theory over affordability, voters will prefer roofs over rhetoric. The smart play is to trim needless costs while keeping sensible protections that don’t bankrupt first‑time buyers.
Turner’s defense isn’t a PR stunt. It’s a policy choice shoved into the spotlight by a brutal industry report. The administration can argue all it wants, but success will show up in building permits, faster permits, lower construction costs, and more buyers signing contracts — even with mortgage rates higher than anyone likes. Lawmakers and local officials who care about housing affordability should stop the partisan chest‑thumping and get to work clearing the roadblocks that make the American Dream unaffordable.
