Housing

NPR  - The Senate yesterday passed the largest housing bill in decades with an 89 to 10 vote. The bipartisan legislation aims to improve housing affordability and availability by deregulating, expanding existing programs and banning large corporations from buying single-family homes, with few exceptions. The bill, which has over 40 provisions, aims to drive down housing costs by encouraging more homebuilding, NPR’s Stephan Bisaha says. The nation is millions of homes short of meeting the demand, but Bisaha explains that the federal government doesn't have a "big lever" it can pull to mandate more construction. So the legislation is an amalgam of different programs and incentives that co-sponsor Sen. Elizabeth Warren describes as a "giant meatball." It includes a popular provision banning institutional investors from buying single-family homes. While people blame these investors for driving up prices by outbidding families, research on this is mixed. Bisaha notes that large investors own few homes across the U.S. and, in some cases, they help lower costs.