In a recent interview with Fox News Digital, Jim Tobin, president and CEO of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), said in a recent interview with Fox News Digital that he believes if inflationary costs, including increased tariffs, go in the right direction, we could see some positive movement in the housing market.
Polling numbers show housing affordability is the top issue for voters. But the question is how to solve it.
“I think the revitalization of Florida’s real estate market starts at the local level,” said Steve Beeman, an economic analyst at Talk Radio. “The solution is to reduce red tape and local regulations.”
Beeman argues that NAHB is correct in addressing local concerns that local governments may negatively impact housing in areas with restrictive use zones and land use barriers.
Regulatory costs alone play a large role in housing affordability, Tobin said in an interview with Fox.
“Regulatory burden really adds up to the unaffordable metric. We estimate that 24% of the price of a single-family home is embedded in regulations at all three levels of government: local, state, and federal.” Regulatory costs amount to approximately $94,000, Tobin said.
Some local elected officials even wonder if some regulatory policies are being intentionally put in place to discourage new construction.
“Local zoning laws place such a burden on home builders, it’s a miracle they can get away with anything,” said Jacksonville City Councilman Rory Diamond.
Mr. Diamond said that simply by revising regulations to make them more business-friendly, local governments would not only improve the housing market, but also increase employment and benefit the tax base.
“Sometimes you have communities that regulate just because they want to inhibit growth, they don’t want to build more housing. Sometimes you have communities that regulate just because they want to inhibit growth, they don’t want to build more housing, and the longer builders wait, the more expensive those projects become,” Tobin told Fox Digital.
