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<\/p>\nHousing supply and affordability rose to the top of the list of priorities for state and local REALTOR\u00ae association staff on an issues survey conducted by the National Association of REALTORS\u00ae (NAR) late last year. <\/p>\n
Another takeaway? It will take action at all levels \u2013 federal, state, and local \u2013 to close the widening gap of five million missing housing units throughout the country.<\/p>\n
At the 2024 REALTORS\u00ae Legislative Meetings in early May, representatives from the National League of Cities (NLC) and the American Planning Association (APA) joined the NAR State and Local Issues Policy Committee to preview the Housing Supply Accelerator Playbook<\/a> days before its official launch.<\/p>\n \u201cThanks to help and robust engagement from NAR and other [housing] groups, we\u2019ve been able to draft a playbook,\u201d announced Mike Wallace, NLC\u2019s Legislative Director. \u201cPart of it is focused on process \u2013 what we recommend cities do at the planning stage. And then we go into a menu of options that seem to be the most promising approaches, giving local officials enough authority to set rules for what they want for their community and enough buy-in to make those rules a reality.\u201d<\/p>\n Jason Jordan, Public Affairs Director at APA, highlighted the Playbook\u2019s emphasis on action. \u201cWe wanted to move past diagnosis to prescriptions \u2013 what can we begin to do to move the needle on housing supply?\u201d<\/p>\n Wallace and Jordan shared that the partners involved in producing the Playbook \u2013 NLC, APA, NAR, the National Association of Home Builders, and the Mortgage Bankers Association \u2013 spent a year traveling the country to examine the obstacles to increasing housing supply and identify solutions that could be replicated in localities nationwide.<\/p>\n What resulted was a menu of options that can be tailored by local stakeholders. \u201c[The Playbook] is not intended to be an A-to-Z set of actions,\u201d Jordan said. \u201cInstead, it meets you where you are in each category that can be scaled up or scaled down.\u201d Those categories include collaboration and partnership, construction and development, finance, and land use and regulation.<\/p>\n NAR has been a core partner in NLC\u2019s Housing Supply Accelerator program for over a year, sharing NAR members\u2019 input and expertise on housing market conditions across the country. The Playbook highlights multiple success stories from REALTOR\u00ae associations on expanding housing supply, including:<\/p>\n .<\/span> Bill McBride, Executive Director of the National Governors Association (NGA), also joined the meeting to emphasize the crucial need for state and local solutions. He recounted a recent NGA roundtable discussion in which one governor after another named housing affordability and availability as the number one issue in their state.<\/p>\n \u201cThe problem of housing affordability and availability is beyond bipartisan \u2013 it\u2019s universal,\u201d McBride said. \u201cIn my years at NGA, I\u2019ve never heard any other issue that has come to the forefront like this one.\u201d<\/p>\n Attending virtually, Montana Governor Greg Gianforte shared examples of how his state is addressing the housing supply crisis, from revising zoning laws to cutting regulation to increasing the construction workforce. He also emphasized the importance of collaboration and adopting what\u2019s working in other areas.<\/p>\n \u201cIf there are good things other states are doing, there\u2019s no pride in ownership \u2013 we\u2019ll steal them,\u201d Gianforte said with a smile. \u201cWe\u2019ll take good ideas wherever we can find them.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s clear that increasing housing supply will take a wide range of committed partners implementing tailored reforms in their areas that add up to meaningful, lasting change nationwide \u2013 which is exactly what the Playbook seeks to achieve.<\/p>\n As NLC\u2019s Wallace noted, \u201cWe saw the need to bring together everyone working to expand housing in communities \u2026 to figure out a new, alternative approach to the status quo.\u201d<\/p>\n APA\u2019s Jordan agreed, closing his remarks by saying, \u201cWe are committed to working together to make a real difference.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
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\n\u201cOur members are working every day to address housing supply issues in their communities,\u201d said Drew Myers, NAR\u2019s State and Local Policy Representative. \u201cNAR has been sounding the alarm on the inventory shortage and advancing solutions to make homeownership more accessible for years. We\u2019re proud to join with NLC, APA, and other housing groups in creating this Playbook to accelerate housing inventory across the country.\u201d<\/p>\n