Policy Issues

Download coalition letter

The Real Estate Roundtable and 11 other national industry organizations expressed their support for legislation that would bolster the Federal Housing Administration’s (FHA) ability to finance multifamily housing construction throughout the country. The joint letter backed a discussion draft released on April 26 by Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) before a Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee hearing, “Building Consensus to Address Housing Challenges.”  

• The industry coalition letter noted how FHA’s base statutory limits define the number and size of multifamily mortgages that the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) can insure nationwide. The letter also emphasized how FHA’s multifamily insurance programs need to capture the true cost of current apartment construction using a more accurate price index.
  
  
• Menendez, a senior member of the Banking Committee, stated during the hearing that his measure would increase FHA’s multifamily lending authority throughout the country for the first time in 20 years, enable the agency to better support apartment construction, and ultimately bring down rental costs. (Hearing video clip and Menendez news release, April 26)
  
  
• FHA’s statutory limits are now significantly below current multifamily construction costs, which poses an unintentional regulatory barrier to middle-income housing.

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