Editor’s Note: The RISMedia series Legislative Round-Up looks at pending and passed federal and state-level legislation that impacts real estate professionals.
Road to Housing Act removed from defense bill
The Road to Housing Act, a bipartisan comprehensive housing reform bill passed by the U.S. Senate, has met a new roadblock. The bill, previously attached to the must-pass National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), has been removed from the House version of said omnibus bill.
Congressman French Hill (R-AR), chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, who previously sponsored the House version of the Road to Housing Act, released a statement reaffirming his commitment to housing affordability reform despite the act’s exclusion from the NDAA.
“This month, the Financial Services Committee will advance solutions to tackle housing cost and access challenges for American families, homeowners, and renters. Next year, we look forward to working with our Senate colleagues to send a bill to the president’s desk that reflects the views of both chambers and leads to more affordable choices for America’s homeowners and renters.”
Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), ranking Democratic member of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs which shepherded the Road to Housing Act, released a statement criticizing Republican leadership, including President Donald Trump, for the removal of the bill from the NDAA.
“Donald Trump claims he wants to build more housing and lower housing costs, but his allies in the House just axed a bipartisan bill that unanimously passed the Senate to do just that. The fight to get the Road to Housing Act signed into law isn’t over—but if House Republicans continue to block legislation to cut housing costs in 2026, then Democrats will pass it ourselves when we take back Congress.”
Florida looking to reduce, if not axe, property taxes
In recent years, Florida has consistently been a popular destination for out-of-state movers. With housing costs a major factor for anyone coming to the Sunshine State, it makes sense that property tax bills are in Florida legislators’ sights.
A radical proposal comes straight from Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who has made clear that his current position is outright ending property taxes in the state. (Such a change would require an amendment to the Florida constitution.)
In public statements this year including on social media and to the press, DeSantis has said that property taxes are comparable to a homeowner paying rent on their home to the government.
In October 2025, members of the Florida state legislature introduced eight bills designed to lower property taxes. One bill, for instance, exempts homeowners aged 65 and over from paying non-school homestead property taxes. Another adds $200,000 to a property tax exemption for homesteads that have property insurance.
Seven of these eight proposals are set to be voted on by the Florida public as ballot initiatives in November 2026. DeSantis, however, has spoken out against this move. In a post on X, he wrote: “Placing more than one property tax measure on the ballot represents an attempt to kill anything on property taxes. It’s a political game, not a serious attempt to get it done for the people.”
A new report from Realtor.com® found that, if property taxes in Florida were to be eliminated like DeSantis has proposed, home price values could jump by 7%-9%, representing a financial boost for current homeowners—one that would cost prospective buyers. Vacation homes and rental units would also not be considered exempt from property taxes. According to the report, this could result in landlords passing any new cost burden onto tenants with higher rents.
“This measure would disproportionately benefit wealthy Floridians at the expense of those who don’t own homes, and would make it even harder to break into homeownership because of the increased prices,” said Realtor.com Senior Economist Joel Berner in the report.
Property taxes, levied and assessed and at a local level, are used to fund schools and community services. The elimination of these taxes would thus affect funding for these services. Additionally, economist Ken Johnson told Realtor.com that eliminating property taxes could, if/when an economic recession hits, drag home prices down (from second homes in Florida being listed in excess) and create a budget crisis for the state.
Connecticut housing reform bill signed
On Wednesday, November 26, Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont signed a long-debated, comprehensive housing reform bill into law. The bill, intended to create more affordable housing in Connecticut, requires towns across the state to create “growth plans” for how they will achieve more housing.
Other changes included in the bill are the expansion of local fair rent commissions, or municipal boards to investigate and ensure fair rent, and the elimination of a minimum amount of off-street parking spaces for smaller developments. Eliminating off-street parking minimums is intended to incentivize construction of more densely packed and walkable communities.
The bill saw a bumpy and uncertain path to the governor’s desk. Lamont had vetoed an earlier version back in June 2025, citing concerns from local leaders across Connecticut. The revised version of the bill—though largely similar to the vetoed version—cuts a provision where towns would be assigned a certain number of new housing units to build, and one that would have prioritized funding for towns that made certain zoning changes.
In housing industry and data reports, the Northeast often ranks as one of if not the most expensive of the four major census regions. A National Association of Realtors® (NAR) Q3 2025 home prices report found Connecticut’s New Haven and Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk metro areas faced some of the highest price increases in the country, and the latter was one of the most expensive markets overall. These high prices have been attributed to the region (including Connecticut) falling short of adding new housing units, which the now-signed housing reform bill is intended to address within Connecticut.
New York City bill could undercut corporate landlords
Housing affordability in New York City is in the spotlight of national discourse right now, with Mayor-Elect Zohran Mamdani having made it a tenet of his campaign.
One proposal in the New York City Council right now is the Community Opportunity to Purchase Act (COPA). This bill, if passed, would give NYC’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development and other “qualified” entities, including nonprofit buyers, the first opportunity to purchase certain residential buildings when they go up for sale. The bill, the current version of which was first introduced in May 2024, currently has 32 sponsors, and New York-based outlet City Limits has reported the bill is expected to pass by the end of the year.
In an October 2025 op-ed published by three NYC council members supporting the bill, they wrote: “Tens of thousands of New Yorkers live in buildings targeted by speculators looking to jack up rents, evict tenants and flip homes for a quick profit. But these same buildings could instead be preserved as stable, affordable housing—something New York desperately needs.”
A first offer of sale to government agencies and nonprofits could reduce the power of institutional investors and corporate landlords, who typically can offer quick and large cash offers when a building (both residential multifamily and single-family) goes on the market. Cotality found that, in the first half of 2025, about one-third of home purchases were made by these investors.
Smaller landlords in New York City have voiced criticism of COPA, however. As reported by Realtor.com, Small Property Owners of New York Board President Ann Korchak said the bill was “government-engineered interference in private free-market transactions that eliminates negotiation” that would add bureaucracy and disincentivize landlords from listing properties. Korchak estimated properties could be delayed coming onto the market by as much as four months under COPA.
Similar laws to COPA have been enacted in San Francisco and Washington, D.C., both of which are more expensive markets than the national average despite these laws’ presence. Supporters argue that D.C.’s lack of new construction is more the culprit there than its Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act (TOPA), though critics would in turn argue that TOPA and associated bureaucracy disincentivizes that construction.
NAR, Kevin Sears back various housing reform bills
NAR Immediate Past President Kevin Sears testified before the U.S. House Financial Services committee about the need to cut “red tape” to spur housing construction and various pieces of legislation supported by NAR to accomplish that.
The full list of NAR-supported bills mentioned in Sears’ prepared opening remarks, and what they are intended to do, are as follows:
- The More Homes on the Market Act, which would update capital gains tax deduction from a home sale to $500,000 (from current $250,000) and indexes that rate for inflation to incentivize more home sales.
- The Rural Homeownership Continuity Act, which would amend the Section 502 Single Family Housing Loan Guarantee Program to allow for loan assumption so that buyers could transfer a seller’s low interest rate. NAR says this would “unlock rural housing inventory.”
- The Streamlining Rural Housing Act, mandating the Departments of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and Agriculture begin the process of streamlining building and environmental regulations, with input from housing industry stakeholders, public agencies and nonprofits.
- The Unlocking Housing Supply Through Streamlined and Modernized Reviews Act, which would revise some provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 to spur more housing construction.
- The BUILD Housing Act, wherein HUD could delegate some housing review processes to state or local governments to streamline and expedite the processes.
- The HOME Reform Act, a bipartisan bill to amend and update the 1990 National Affordable Housing Act and continue its goal of expanding affordable housing, including through public-private partnerships.
- The HUD-USDA-VA Interagency Coordination Act, mandating the eponymous agencies (which offer housing related services such as loan assistance) submit a report to Congress on how to improve communication between them.
- The Saving the American Dream Act, requiring various cabinet heads to submit a report to Congress on pressing housing issues such as financing, regulation, insurance costs, etc.
- The Housing Supply Frameworks Act, which would direct HUD to establish “best practices” guidelines for zoning at the state and local levels. NAR said this would “(give) states and localities proven strategies to increase housing supply while maintaining local control.”
- The Identifying Regulatory Barriers to Housing Supply Act, requiring certain communities receiving federal grants under the Housing and Community Development Act to submit a plan for reporting on restrictive land use or zoning policies.
- The Accelerating Home Building Act, which would give HUD authority to supply grants for communities to create “libraries” of construction designs that are pre-approved based on compliance with existing zoning and coding.
- The Housing Affordability Act, which would mandate the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) update its multifamily loan limits.
- The Housing Supply Expansion Act, which removes the definition that a modular home must have a “permanent chassis” for transportation, so as to incentivize the building of more modular housing.
- The Modular Housing Production Act, mandating the FHA conduct a review to find barriers to building modular housing in existing construction finance programs.
- The Property Improvement and Manufactured Housing Loan Modernization Act of 2025, which would allow property improvement loans to be used for the construction of accessory dwelling units.
- The Whole-Home Repairs Act, which would create a national pilot program offering grants for home repair to eligible homeowners, based on a statewide program in place in Pennsylvania.
- The Reforming Disaster Recovery Act, which would create a disaster recovery fund for HUD to immediately assist communities after a disaster, as opposed to waiting for Congress to pass an appropriate funding bill, per sponsor Senator Brian Schatz (D-HI).
- The Neighborhood Homes Investment Act, which would create a new tax credit for neighborhood revitalization.
- The Revitalizing Downtowns Act, which would create a tax credit for converting non-residential buildings into affordable housing units.
- The Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act of 2025, which would expand the Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC).
