Can the Federal Gov make homes cheaper?

These are great guildlines. Will the states adopt? Depends where? Places like Florida and Texas are already leaning in that direction. More permissive zoning laws, less red tape, more available land to build. Plus with all the new illegals in these states, a soon to be limitless pool of construction labor.

Did I mention that along with high interest rates, the lack of skilled tradespeople is a major reason it's expensive to build.

PS. I had Claude Ai dive in and produce the chart left.

ZONING OUT

Quart Media

Feb 18, 2026

Washington has finally found bipartisan common ground: Paperwork is exhausting. Housing has become a national sport where everyone agrees the rules are terrible, then argues for three years about whose clipboard gets to stick around.

This week, the House tried something radical — making the process less allergic to building.

House lawmakers just passed a sweeping housing bill that bets the affordability fight starts with speeding up the slow, local machinery that decides what gets built — and when. The chamber approved the Housing for the 21st Century Act in a 390-9 vote.

The Senate has its own version — the ROAD to Housing Act of 2025 — still waiting for floor time. If it moves through, lawmakers will reconcile the two and send a final package to President Donald Trump.

The House bill’s thesis is pretty simple: Friction costs money.

The bill pushes best-practice frameworks for states and cities to streamline land-use policies and zoning rules, the bureaucratic choke points builders say stretch timelines and budgets. The bill also trims environmental reviews for smaller projects and lets some government-backed developments skip redundant paperwork.

There’s a quieter affordability play tucked inside: manufactured housing.

One provision highlighted by Rep. Mike Flood relaxes a rule requiring homes to sit on a chassis to qualify for many loan programs, widening financing access. That matters when the average manufactured home runs about $123,300 compared with $405,939 for a typical stick-built house.

Trade groups across real estate, homebuilding, and mortgage finance are cheering, while critics note the bills don’t directly solve the nation’s housing shortage or spell out fresh construction funding. Still, after years of drift, a bipartisan landslide is motion — and motion counts in a market defined by delay.

Now the question is whether the Senate speeds things up, or proves once again that in housing policy, process is destiny.