The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act is now law, marking one of the most significant federal housing reform packages in decades.
The legislation includes dozens of provisions intended to address one of the biggest challenges facing the housing market: America simply does not have enough homes.
For buyers, sellers, and homeowners in Colorado Springs, Monument, and communities throughout El Paso County, the most important question is not what happened in Washington.
It is this:
Will this actually make housing more affordable?
The answer is potentially, but not overnight.
I Have Been Saying This to Anyone Who Will Listen: This Is Basic Economics
I have been asking anyone and everyone at the local and state level who would give me a few minutes to talk about housing to consider something that I believe is fundamental to the affordability conversation:
This is basic economics.
Interest rates matter. Of course they do.
They matter to sellers, especially homeowners who are sitting on a mortgage rate below 3% and are understandably reluctant to give that up.
Rates matter to buyers because the interest rate directly affects the monthly payment and is an important part of the affordability equation.
But rates alone are not going to solve our housing affordability problem.
The issue that can truly move the needle is supply.
When we do not have enough homes for the number of people who need them, prices are pushed upward.
It is supply and demand.
The Housing Affordability Problem Is Also a Supply Problem
For years, much of the conversation about housing affordability has focused on home prices and mortgage rates.
Those absolutely matter.
But if we continue to have more people who need housing than we have available homes, affordability will remain a challenge regardless of what happens with interest rates.
The United States has underbuilt housing for years. At the same time, development has become increasingly complicated and expensive in many communities because of land costs, infrastructure requirements, zoning restrictions, lengthy approval processes, labor shortages, material costs, and other regulatory barriers.
The new housing law attempts to address some of those issues.
Among its major provisions, the law aims to:
- Encourage communities to remove restrictive barriers to new housing.
- Streamline certain environmental reviews and development processes.
- Expand financing opportunities for smaller-dollar mortgages.
- Make manufactured and modular housing easier to finance.
- Improve disaster recovery and rebuilding programs.
- Restrict certain large institutional investors from purchasing additional single-family homes.
These are significant changes, but buyers and sellers should understand that this is a long-term housing strategy, not an immediate fix for home prices or mortgage rates.
What Happens If We Get Housing Supply Back to a Healthy Level?
This is the part of the conversation I believe matters most.
When we have a healthy level of housing supply, buyers have choices.
They do not have to compete as aggressively for every available home. Sellers still have the opportunity to build equity, but the market has a better chance of experiencing more sustainable appreciation.
Over the long term, I believe a healthier housing market is one where home values appreciate at a pace more closely aligned with inflation and broader economic fundamentals.
Housing has significantly outpaced inflation over long periods, particularly in recent decades. That has been wonderful for many existing homeowners who have built substantial equity, but it has also made the path to homeownership increasingly difficult for the next generation of buyers.
We need housing to remain a strong long-term investment.
We also need people to be able to afford a home.
Those two things do not have to be mutually exclusive.
Will This Law Make Homes Cheaper?
Probably not immediately.
Even when regulations change, communities still need land, infrastructure, water, utilities, labor, materials, financing, and time to build homes.
That means we could be years away from seeing the full effect of some of these policies.
But increasing housing supply matters.
If more homes can be built in places where people want and need to live, buyers may eventually have more choices and less pressure from limited inventory.
That is how we begin moving toward a healthier balance between supply and demand.
What About Large Institutional Investors Buying Homes?
One of the most talked-about provisions restricts certain large institutional investors from continuing to mass-purchase single-family homes.
This matters because individual homebuyers have increasingly questioned whether they are competing not only with other families, but also with large corporations.
The goal of these restrictions is to preserve more opportunities for individual buyers to compete for single-family homes.
The actual effect will vary significantly by market. Real estate is local, and the influence of institutional investors is much greater in some parts of the country than in others.
Still, this provision reflects a growing concern about protecting opportunities for individual homeownership.
What Could This Mean for Colorado Springs and El Paso County?
This is where the conversation becomes more complicated.
Federal policy can encourage housing production, but many of the decisions that determine what gets built happen at the state and local levels.
Land availability, zoning, infrastructure, water, utility capacity, development costs, building timelines, and community planning all influence how quickly new housing can be added.
Colorado Springs and the surrounding communities are also not one single housing market.
The challenges involved in adding housing in Colorado Springs may be very different from those in Monument, Woodmoor, Black Forest, Fountain, Falcon, or other parts of El Paso County.
That is why I do not expect one federal law to suddenly solve housing affordability locally.
What it may do is begin removing some of the obstacles that have contributed to the housing shortage over many years.
What Should Buyers Do Right Now?
Do not wait for a federal housing law to suddenly change the market.
The opportunities available to buyers today are based on today's inventory, pricing, interest rates, seller motivation, and individual financial goals.
In the current Colorado Springs-area housing market, I am seeing opportunities that buyers simply did not have during the most competitive years.
Some sellers are reducing prices. Some are willing to negotiate closing costs or other concessions. Homes that have been on the market longer may create additional opportunities for buyers, while well-priced homes in desirable locations can still attract strong interest.
The key is understanding the difference.
A price reduction does not automatically mean a home is a bargain. A home that has been sitting on the market is not automatically a bad home. And a new listing is not automatically overpriced.
Every property has to be evaluated within its specific neighborhood, condition, price point, competition, and current buyer demand.
What Should Sellers Take From This?
Rates matter for sellers, too.
Many homeowners have mortgage rates below 3%, and the decision to sell often means giving up an extraordinarily low rate. That lock-in effect has been one of the factors limiting the number of existing homes coming onto the market.
But over the long term, additional housing supply is necessary for a healthier housing market.
As buyers gain more choices, preparation, pricing, and positioning become increasingly important for sellers.
Buyers have more access to information than ever before. They compare homes quickly, notice condition, watch price reductions, and evaluate value carefully.
The homes that stand out are not necessarily the ones with the highest list price. They are the homes where price, condition, presentation, and buyer expectations align.
The Bigger Picture
I have been talking about housing supply with anyone at the local and state level who will give me the opportunity because I believe we cannot solve an affordability problem without addressing the underlying shortage.
Rates matter.
Financing matters.
Wages matter.
Construction costs matter.
But if demand continues to exceed the number of available homes, affordability will remain a challenge.
Supply is the part of the equation that can fundamentally change that balance.
The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act will not create millions of homes overnight. It will not suddenly lower mortgage rates. It will not make every home affordable.
But it addresses something I believe has been missing from far too much of the housing affordability conversation:
We cannot solve a housing shortage without building more housing.
For buyers and sellers in Colorado Springs, Monument, and El Paso County, national housing policy is one part of a much larger picture. Local inventory, neighborhood-level demand, interest rates, property condition, pricing, and negotiation still determine what is happening in a transaction today.
My role is to help my clients understand all of those pieces so they can make informed decisions based on their goals, not fear, pressure, or a single headline.
Because the housing market is always changing, but good decisions still begin with good information.
