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Policymakers raced this week to complete a massive economic response to stem the spiraling public health and economic toll of the Coronavirus pandemic. As infection and death rates continued to grow, jobless claims soared, hotels and malls temporarily closed world-wide, and President Trump invoked rarely used emergency powers to fight what he called a “medical war.”

President Trump declared a national emergency this afternoon to unleash billions of disaster reserve funds to combat the coronavirus, as House Democrats were poised to pass legislation to give families and businesses immediate support as they confront the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Strict criteria for how the Government Sponsored Entities (GSEs) Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac must facilitate a secondary mortgage market for very low-, low-, and moderate-income families in manufactured, affordable and rural housing were released on March 11 by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA). (Updated FHFA Guidance)

Central banks around the world took dramatic action this week to mitigate the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic.

The United States House of Representatives on Monday passed the bipartisan Yes in My Backyard (YIMBY) Act (H.R. 4351) on a voice vote, following last week’s unanimous approval by the House Financial Services Committee.

Testifying before the House Ways and Means Committee on the President’s FY 2021 budget, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin was questioned this week on the Foreign Investment in Real Property Tax Act (FIRPTA) and addressed potential steps he could take to encourage greater real estate investment from abroad. (Watch 2:35 video of March 3 exchange with Mnuchin)

This week congressional policymakers overwhelmingly passed, and President Trump signed, an $8.3 billion emergency spending package to combat the coronavirus outbreak in the U.S. – after the Fed reduced interest rates by a half-point amid early signs of economic disruption.

Deepening concerns over the international spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) have prompted U.S. policymakers to consider measures for combating the potential public health and economic repercussions of the global disease, as the commercial real estate industry braces for potential disruption.

The House Financial Services Committee reported a bill today with overwhelming bipartisan support that would require localities to report to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (“HUD”) on land use practices that promote affordable housing production.

Over three-quarters of the Republican Members of the House Ways and Means Committee on Feb. 20 urged Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to remove tax barriers to foreign investment in U.S. real estate and infrastructure.

The Real Estate Roundtable’s 2020 Q1 Economic Sentiment Index released this week registered a three point increase over the 2019 fourth quarter index. Commercial real estate (CRE) industry executives continue to experience generally balanced market fundamentals across nearly all product types, with limited overbuilding and conservative overall industry debt.

The Real Estate Roundtable’s 2020 Q1 Economic Sentiment Index released this week registered a three point increase over the 2019 fourth quarter index. Commercial real estate (CRE) industry executives continue to experience generally balanced market fundamentals across nearly all product types, with limited overbuilding and conservative overall industry debt. CRE executives also positively noted the continued macro-economic job growth and low interest rates. Election year politics and international tensions somewhat temper the overall optimistic sentiment causing some CRE executives to prepare for potential market disruptions later in 2020.

The Trump Administration yesterday issued its Council of Economic Advisers’ 2020 Annual Report, which warns that regulatory constraints on affordable housing development in key markets drive up costs, increase homelessness and pose a potential threat to U.S. economic growth.

The Trump Administration on Monday released a $4.8 trillion budget for FY 2021 signaling policy priorities for a potential second term, followed by Senate and House committee hearings this week that focused on the proposal and tax-related issues – including FIRPTA repeal; correcting a drafting error affecting qualified improvement property (QIP); and expansion of the low-income housing tax credit.

In the lead-up to the November elections, Democrats continued to draw attention this week on Capitol Hill to energy and climate issues, as the House Energy Subcommittee heard testimony on a number of bills to advance efficiency in buildings and modernize the nation’s electric grid. (Subcommittee hearing and memorandum, Feb 12.) The Subcommittee’s review included the Energy Savings and Industrial Competitiveness (ESIC) Act (H.R. 3962), long supported by The Real Estate Roundtable ...

The federal regulator of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac – the Government Sponsored Enterprises (GSEs) who own or guarantee $5.6 trillion in single and multifamily mortgages – will propose new affordable housing requirements and duty-to-serve plans this year. Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Mark Calabria said this week that the regulator’s Division of Research and Statistics will first ...

The increasing cost burden of rental housing is now reaching middle-income Americans, according to a Harvard University Joint Center for Housing Studies (JCHS) report, America’s Rental Housing 2020. Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis President and CEO Neel Kashkari introduced the report at a Jan. 31 event. "We need a lot more private sector development to come in, build many, many more units across the spectrum, create more supply, that'll make things more affordable for everyone. Unless we unlock the private sector, we're never going to help the vast majority of people who are struggling with affordability today," Kashkari said. • Kashari noted the challenge is how to encourage the private sector to create and preserve affordable housing alternatives at scale so that other targeted government programs can also do their part. “Our research has shown, as many others have shown, that if the private sector builds more units, even market-rate units, it adds supply to a city or region that ends up creating space for everybody, Kashkari said. (YouTube video of JCHS event and ULI’s Urban Land Magazine, Feb. 5)

Democratic leaders on the House Energy and Commerce (E&C) Committee released a far-reaching bill on January 28, signaling their plans for climate legislation based on the outcome of next November’s elections. The bill includes rigorous efficiency targets for building energy codes and a framework to drive the U.S. electric grid toward net-zero carbon emissions.

National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC) President Doug Bibby – an industry leader for nearly two decades who has played a major role in advancing real estate’s policy agenda in Washington, DC – announced on Jan. 29 that he will depart the organization in 2021.