National Legislative Successes
By the end of 2019, NAR has worked with Congress to create and extended several legislative issues into 2020 that are essential for REALTORS® and homeowners. Those issues include the National Flood Insurance Program, creating more mortgage options for veterans through the Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Act, Energy Efficient Commercial Buildings Deduction, and the comprehensive vision for Government Sponsored Enterprise (GSE) reform which protects the liquid mortgage market for middle-income and underserved borrowers. Additionally, NAR has reauthorized the Terrorism Risk Insurance Program which is often a necessity for commercial REALTORS® to obtain financing and gives stability to the commercial real estate sector and economy.
Fair Housing
The Fair Housing act is at the top of NAR legislative agenda this year. It is more than a checklist of what to do and what not to do, but protects the REALTOR® profession that requires a free and open market with equal opportunity.
Here is a video with NAR’s fair housing updates: https://www.nar.realtor/window-to-the-law/fair-housing-update
Workforce Housing
Another of NAR’s top issues this year is the problem of housing affordability. Similarly to Dayton, there have been gains in home prices around the nation. The challenge is that inventory and affordability remain low. NAR is working to address this problem with the new Federal Housing Administration condominium loan policies.
Workforce housing in Dayton is a major opportunity for REALTORS® as well as for generating economic development. There are various land-use and zoning laws in small municipalities that inhibit profitability for developers in the Dayton region and create inventory shortages for Realtors. In government affairs we will tackle these issues through advocacy in 2020. Stay tuned next month for more on workforce housing and the state of Ohio’s legislative successes for 2019!
