Trump’s Housing Agenda Faces Modest Gains, Builders Cite Ongoing Challenges

President Donald Trump returned to the White House in January 2025 and pledged to expand homeownership by deregulating construction, increasing new-home building, and tightening immigration enforcement. In video remarks to a Department of Housing and Urban Development event on the National Mall on September 8 2025, Trump emphasized his personal background in real-estate development. The administration has acted on deregulation, immigration enforcement and limits on institutional investors, but the impact on new construction has been limited.

Newsweek

The Census Bureau reported seasonally adjusted annual rates of 1.5 million building permits, 1.4 million housing starts and 1.6 million completions in January 2025. Single-family starts fell 8.4 % from the prior month to a rate of 993,000, and by July they had dropped 9.9 % to 808,000 units—the lowest level in more than three and a half years. Total housing starts, including multifamily projects, fell 12.4 % to an annual rate of 1.239 million.

Newsweek

Redfin counted 1,400,188 active listings nationwide in January 2025, rising modestly to 1,473,056 by December. By July, listings had slipped to 1,462,921, a 0.65 % decline from the previous year. The increase in inventory reflects both new listings and homes staying on the market longer amid high mortgage rates and still-rising prices. Regional patterns show modest recovery in the South and West, while the Northeast and Midwest continue to face acute shortages.

Newsweek

The National Association of Home Builders’ (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index rose one point to 35 in August, remaining “muted” because of economic and geopolitical uncertainty. Homebuilders have welcomed some deregulatory steps but argue that financing costs and weak buyer demand limit the pace of new projects.

Newsweek

“I’ve been a builder all my life. I build things. I was a real estate developer. I know what it is,” — Donald Trump, president

Newsweek