ICBA: ICBA Applauds House Passage of Bipartisan Housing Bill
The Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) applauded the House of Representatives for today’s bipartisan passage of its amended housing relief bill, which includes several ICBA-advocated community bank regulatory reforms and promotes housing affordability. “ICBA and the nation’s community banks strongly support bipartisan House passage of the amended housing bill, which includes pro-community bank regulatory…
HUD: Agency Announces Regulatory Best Practices to Unleash Building and Increase Homeownership Across America
Deregulate Homebuilding by Reducing Costs, Unlocking Land, and Accelerating Timelines The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced the State and Local Best Practices for Home Construction Report, a series of regulatory actions for state and local governments to increase efficiency and ease regulatory barriers to housing construction and affordability. “HUD is encouraging our state…
HUD and Census Bureau: New Residential Sales Report for March 2026 Released
The U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development jointly announced the following new residential sales statistics for March 2026: New Home SalesSales of new single-family houses in March 2026 were at a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 682,000, according to estimates released jointly today by the U.S. Census Bureau and the…
HUD: Agency Declares Little Rock Housing Authority in Substantial Default and Initiates Possession
Action Builds on Secretary Turner’s Commitment to Hold Public Housing Authorities Accountable for Mismanagement The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) today declared the Housing Authority of the City of Little Rock, operating as the Metropolitan Housing Alliance (MHA), in Substantial Default for failing to meet the terms of its federally mandated Recovery Agreement….
HUD: Environmental Reviews Streamlined to Lower Multifamily Development Costs
FHA updates remove outdated requirements, cut inefficiencies, and support housing production HUD announced updates to environmental review requirements for multifamily housing, removing outdated provisions that have increased costs and complexity for lenders and developers. These changes, issued through HUD’s Federal Housing Administration (FHA) via a Mortgagee Letter, revise the Multifamily Accelerated Processing (MAP) Guide to streamline outdated and burdensome…
HUD: Agency Moving Forward on Bold Homelessness Reform
Today, HUD is announcing that homelessness-related service providers across the nation can expect the 2026 Continuum of Care (CoC) Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) to be published by June 1, 2026. Further, applicants can expect awards to be made by December 1, 2026. The CoC Program is a national competition designed to promote community-wide efforts…
HUD: HUD and USDA Announce Major Rescission of Building Code Requirements
Secretary Scott Turner and Secretary Brooke Rollins today announced the rescission of a costly Biden Administration-era policy which added at least $20,000 to the cost of home construction. A 2024 Final Determination issued under President Biden rendered all new home construction ineligible for an FHA or USDA-backed mortgage loan unless the home was built according…
FHFA: House Price Index Unchanged in February 2026; Up 1.7 Percent from Last Year
U.S. house prices were unchanged in February, according to the U.S. Federal Housing (FHFA) seasonally adjusted monthly House Price Index (FHFA HPI®). House prices rose 1.7 percent from February 2025 to February 2026. The previously reported 0.1 percent price change in January was revised upward to 0.2 percent. For the nine census divisions, seasonally adjusted monthly home…
HUD: Agency Empowers Real Estate Agents to Better Support American Homebuyers
Real estate agents are not breaking the law when they discuss crime rates and school quality with prospective homebuyers and renters. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) sent a “Dear Colleague” letter to real estate professionals clarifying they are not violating the Fair Housing Act when they share information with prospective homebuyers…
FHFA: Federal Housing Administration Joins Fannie and Freddie in Implementing VantageScore 4.0 and FICO 10T Credit Scores
Homebuying Advances into New Era of Credit Score Competition Today the U.S. government is ushering in a new era of competition in our nation’s mortgage market. In a joint announcement, HUD Secretary Scott Turner and FHFA Director William J. Pulte announced that the Federal Housing Administration and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are implementing their first…