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Jericho Village, an affordable housing development, celebrated its grand opening in Wylie in June.<\/p>\n
Anja Schlein\/Special Contributor<\/p>\n
A new federal housing bill became law last week that aims to bring U.S. housing<\/a> efforts into the 21st century, impacting fast-growing<\/a>\u00a0regions<\/a> like Dallas-Fort Worth.<\/p>\n Ted Wilson, principal of the housing market research firm Residential Strategies Inc., says we\u2019re short on houses. But not just houses, affordable houses. Housing doesn\u2019t lack affordability because the housing industry is overcharging for homes, builders operate on slim margins, he said.<\/p>\n \u201cLand\u2019s expensive, development costs are expensive, construction prices, all those things go into it,\u201d Wilson said. \u201cSo, if they could, they would absolutely build more houses. It\u2019s difficult for many builders to get much under $300,000 and the reality is that for several households that\u2019s just too expensive.\u201d<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act<\/a>, a law aiming to increase the nation\u2019s supply of housing, was set up to be enacted after President Donald Trump signaled on Friday that he wouldn\u2019t veto the bill<\/a>. It\u2019s the first major federal action to address housing issues since the response to the 2008 financial crisis.<\/p>\n The law builds on housing programs already at work in Dallas-Fort Worth, creates initiatives and encourages state and local governments to investigate how they can improve their housing efforts.<\/p>\n Federal back and forth<\/p>\n The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act\u2019s road to becoming a law was not smooth.\u00a0<\/p>\n Congress passed a final version of the measure in late June with bipartisan support. However, Trump then announced he wouldn\u2019t sign it until another bill \u2014 one requiring proof of citizenship to vote in federal elections \u2014 was passed. The bill becomes law with or without a president\u2019s signature within 10 days, excluding Sundays, while Congress is in session, which happen on Saturday without Trump’s signature.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n D-FW organizations like the Dallas Housing Coalition and the Dallas Builders Association said they were involved in the legislative back and forth, advocating for parts of the law\u00a0through national organizations and partnerships.<\/p>\n Congress went through several versions of the housing law, including a version that would have required large institutional investors to sell single-family homes built as rentals after seven years. Wilson said the initial bill caused concern in the industry.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI think the main thing was that when it first was proposed, there were a lot in the industry that were kind of aghast at what they were saying, because it was going to destroy the build-to-rent program,\u201d Wilson said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Builders often construct collections of single-family rentals organized into a community.<\/p>\n However, the requirement to sell the homes after seven years was dropped. The law still restricts the purchase of new single-family homes by large institutional investors that own at least 350 single-family homes, with exceptions for homes intended for the build-to-rent market.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Institutional investors that own at least 350 homes\u00a0\u2014 or mega investors\u00a0\u2014 accounted for about 2.4% of Dallas-Fort Worth home purchases<\/a> in 2025, according to a Realtor.com report.<\/p>\n The U.S. hasn\u2019t had a law\u00a0like this for a while, Wilson said. The law aims to overhaul the system and look for ways to create efficiencies in the housing world.<\/p>\n Building affordability<\/p>\n With inflation and mortgage rates likely to stay above 6%<\/a>, affordability is a challenge, Wilson said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s imperative that housing values remain kind of flat right now for us to try and claw back at this affordability challenge and I think this passage of this law helps with that,\u201d Wilson said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n D-FW has an excess supply of housing on the new home side, meaning it\u2019s a great time to buy a house, Wilson said. But many people can\u2019t afford these houses. If incomes go up and while housing values don\u2019t rise as quickly affordability starts to come back, he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n D-FW\u2019s housing market has a moderate shortage of homes for middle-income earners, according to an analysis from Realtor.com and the National Association of Realtors<\/a>. The report estimated that there were about 11,500\u00a0affordable listings missing from the market and that for buyers earning $75,000, only 10.2% of listings were affordable in March 2026.<\/p>\n Workers Efron Ruiz, right,\u00a0and Luis Rangel lay sod at a home that was under construction in southeast Dallas.<\/p>\n 2024 File Photo\/Tom Fox<\/p>\n National programs are already bringing down housing costs for some D-FW homes. The housing law\u00a0renews and expands several existing programs like the HOME Investment Partnership Program.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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