Trump Considers Declaring National Housing Emergency This Fall

The Trump administration is considering emergency measures to address the housing affordability crisis that has left millions struggling to pay rent and priced out of homeownership, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Monday.

"We may declare a national housing emergency in the fall," Bessent told the Washington Examiner. “We’re trying to figure out what we can do, and we don’t want to step into the business of states, counties, and municipal governments.”

Bessent declined to list any specific actions under consideration by the president, but said that administration officials are studying ways to decrease closing costs and nationally standardize the local patchwork of building and zoning codes.

In a separate Labor Day interview with Reuters, Bessent said that solving the housing affordability crisis was an "all hands on deck" challenge for the Trump administration.

In an Oval Office press conference on Tuesday, President Donald Trump confirmed an emergency declaration on housing affordability is under consideration, without offering specifics.

Spokespersons for the White House and Treasury Department did not immediately respond to questions from Realtor.com about what a declaration of national housing emergency might entail.

Talk of the emergency measures comes at a time when Americans face deep struggles to afford housing. Relative to income, home affordability is near a 40-year low, and nearly half of renter households are cost burdened, spending more than 30% of their income on rent.

However, any federal attempt to tackle the housing crisis will have to face the harsh reality that most of the key policies that influence housing supply are set at the state and local level.

"It remains unclear exactly what kind of emergency measures the administration could take to address housing, or even if using emergency powers in this way is lawful," says Realtor.com® Senior Economist Joel Berner. "The best ways the administration could make an impact are by encouraging the building and purchase of homes."

Berner suggests that finding ways to streamline the permitting process for homebuilders—and put fewer restrictions on builders—could help boost housing supply, particularly in heavily-regulated, high-cost areas like the Northeast.

"This would have the best long-term impact, but the federal government could also juice the housing market in the short run by making it easier to buy a home," he says. "This could include offering a tax credit to offset closing costs."

A similar tax credit was offered to first-time homebuyers during the Obama administration in 2008, when the economy entered deep recession. However, that tax credit required an act of Congress, and it is unclear whether the executive branch could take a similar step on its own.

The National Association of Realtors® says it is in "close contact with the White House and engaged in ongoing discussions on practical solutions to expand housing opportunities".

"If a national emergency is declared, NAR stands ready to work closely with the Administration, Congress and state and local leaders to advance targeted reforms that increase inventory, improve affordability, and keep homeownership within reach," says Shannon McGahn, NAR’s Executive Vice President and Chief Advocacy Officer.

"The Administration's consideration of a housing emergency underscores the urgency we’ve long raised: supply constraints are the greatest obstacle to affordability, with the nation short 4.7 million homes.

"Bold, coordinated action is needed now to boost housing supply so more families can achieve the American Dream of homeownership and the generational wealth it provides."

On the first day of his current term, Trump ordered the executive branch to "deliver emergency price relief" for Americans on housing costs and other key living expenses.

In a memorandum to the heads of all executive departments and agencies, Trump directed them to take action to "lower the cost of housing and expand housing supply" as well as reduce other household expenses and boost employment.

The memo ordered executive branch leaders to report back to the White House every 30 days on their progress in lowering consumer costs. But it made no reference to specific actions to be taken.

Since then, the administration has moved forward with plans to identify federal land that could be opened up for affordable housing development.

In the legislative branch, a bill packed with provisions aimed at boosting the housing supply and lowering housing costs has gained bipartisan support in the Senate, passing out of committee unanimously last month. A full Senate vote on the bill has not yet been scheduled.

Known as the ROAD to Housing Act of 2025, the bill would create a a "best practices" framework for local zoning and land use policies, which could be copied and implemented by local jurisdictions at their discretion.

The housing crisis featured prominently in the 2024 presidential election, with Democratic candidate Kamala Harris touting plans to offer $25,000 in down-payment assistance to certain first-time homebuyers.

Trump also promised to address the housing crisis on the campaign trail, vowing to slash regulations on homebuilders and saying he would get mortgage rates down to 3% or less.

Mortgage rates have remained above 6.5% since Trump took office in January, leading the president to level bitter recriminations against the Federal Reserve for leaving its policy rate unchanged.

The Fed is now widely expected to cut its benchmark rate by a quarter point later this month, which has led mortgage rates down to their lowest level of the year, averaging 6.56% last week, according to Freddie Mac.