< img src="https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/NAREBpresident.jpg"alt ="">“[ We want to see how] these barriers are affecting any newbie homebuyers, and them in fact entering into homeownership,” he stated. “Policy-wise, we have actually been concentrating on that. 2 days ago, I invested the entire day on (Capitol Hill), talking with congressional leaders on some things that we’re working on, specifically around policy and HUD and FHA.”
NAREB is introducing an eight-city economical homeownership bus tour as part of its grassroots outreach.
The organization is likewise mobilizing 100-plus regional boards through its Realtist Restore Day– supporting households through home repair and stabilization.
Community Property Fairness Effort
Thomas highlighted a particular policy push NAREB is making with the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and Federal Housing Administration (FHA) called the Neighborhood Home Fairness Effort.
The effort addresses what Thomas describes as an underwriting imbalance affecting married couples in nine states who obtain FHA mortgages.
“If you’re applying for an FHA home mortgage, I believe 83% of novice property buyers go through FHA, and if you’re wed, you have to use your partner’s income in the approval process, he said. “So, a husband and wife are married– only the husband is getting a loan. The other half’s financial obligation enters into that estimation of the application, not her earnings.
“She’s not going on the loan, but her debt is being determined, which makes it really challenging for someone to certify.”
States affected are California, Texas, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Wisconsin, Washington, Louisiana and Idaho, Thomas stated. He included that government-sponsored enterprises like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac do not require this treatment of spousal debt.
“We take a look at that as an imbalance of underwriting,” Thomas stated. “We are challenging HUD. For a long time, we have actually been having conversations, and now we’re actually bringing it out openly.”
Examining federal housing legislation
On recent federal efforts to attend to real estate affordability, Thomas expressed support for inventory-focused steps while noting drawbacks.
“I believe the costs that are being passed are taking great strides to fight our inventory lacks,” Thomas said. “However the other issue is gain access to, and I think that’s not a part of the conversation as much as it need to be.”
He pointed particularly to the 21st Century ROAD to Real Estate Act.
“There’s absolutely nothing in the [Act] that speaks with interest rates, absolutely nothing that’s straight impacting the consumer at a point of application or certification,” Thomas said. “This is merely about inventory, which is an issue, and we need to tackle it. So, we’re excited that a minimum of we’re tackling something. However we’re anticipating increasing the conversation around access.”
Thomas likewise noted an absence of federal policy concentrate on rising insurance costs and property taxes.
“Even if the rates of interest boil down, for instance, in Louisiana, there’s research studies where the insurance payment is greater than the home mortgage payment,” he stated. “Those are new truths that we’re dealing with. And I think that we missed out on a chance to address that in these costs.”
Rethinking mortgage items
Thomas stated the market needs more development in item offerings to resolve cost obstacles considered that earnings has not kept pace with housing expenses and inflation.
“There’s an opportunity for us to take a look at items to see how we can much better line up in regards to developing some gain towards cost,” he said. “So, we have to be more ingenious in regards to our product offering to allow individuals to get into homeownership.”
On the idea of a 50-year home mortgage, Thomas said he and NAREB are not in assistance of that measure.
Nevertheless, he recommended exploring how loans are amortized, noting that interest is front-loaded in home loans, making it challenging for property owners to construct early equity.
Thomas likewise identified aging real estate stock as an under addressed issue impacting stock and cost.
“I would have liked to see more in the costs surrounding rehab loans,” he stated. “In every city, you have properties that were built in the early 1900s that need repair work, and it’s really hard for consumers to gain access to, as a purchase item, rehab loans without taking higher rates or increased costs.
“The investors are doing a lot of the rehabilitation work across America, however I believe the daily consumer would rather purchase a home that they can fix up at a more inexpensive rate.”
Attending to appraisal bias, industry guideline
Thomas supports federalizing regulation of appraisals, which are presently controlled at the state level.
“It makes it very challenging to bring real reform to the market,” Thomas said of decentralized oversight.” [It could be] like what we’ve made with mortgage brokers and home mortgage lending institutions. They now have the National Home Loan Licensing System. It could permit consumers to say, ‘Hey, my appraisal didn’t come in correctly. I want to escalate this without it being cost troublesome.'”
Thomas highlighted the importance of sustained advocacy.
“Discussions continue far after [appraisal predisposition] lost its fire on social media,” he said. “We require to keep pushing since there hasn’t been anything that’s been executed to fight it. So, it’s still a conversation, however we require to actually bring some guideline around it.”
Preserving the homeownership message
Thomas stated industry leaders need to continue stressing homeownership’s importance and the remaining spaces in homeownership equity.
“Somewhere along the line, the American dream became more about earnings than individuals, and so we need to return to positive underwriting, rather than underwriting that has a sense of, ‘Show to me why you deserve a home.'”
Thomas said the tone in financing has shifted since the foreclosure crisis– with a focus on risk avoidance– however argued that market stability now supports simpler loan access.
He motivated prospective buyers not to be hindered by present market conditions.
“We want to continue to motivate people that it’s a good time to purchase home,” he said. “I would not avoid it, even with all of the dismaying news and the rates and whatever that’s going on.”
The eight-city bus trip will focus on cost and emphasize opportunities in particular markets.
“There are cities that have opportunities, and so we wish to continue to go to those cities and push homeownership,” Thomas said. “And so that’s our main message, and our activities center around that.”