Washington Update – January 2026
NAR Releases 2025 Annual Report
The 80-page report demonstrates the association’s renewed commitment to transparency and accountability. It details NAR’s work to transform the member experience and modernize the association and includes letters from CEO Nykia Wright, Immediate Past President Kevin Sears, and 2026 President Kevin Brown. Read more here…
2026 Advocacy Issues Priorities Available
Building Housing Supply and Opportunity for All: With an estimated 4.7 million-unit shortage, America is facing a housing inventory crisis. We must unlock supply, ease market constraints, and make it easier for Americans to find homes they can afford.
Increased supply helps stabilize prices, revitalize communities, and support the American dream of homeownership. Updating America’s tax law is a key pathway to more supply. REALTORS® also strongly support fair housing laws and are active leaders in opening up housing opportunities for people of all backgrounds.
Click Here to see the 2026 Legislative Priorities
NAR Statement on Institutional Buyers
“The National Association of REALTORS® is encouraged that the administration and members of Congress are focused on addressing the nation’s housing affordability and supply crises. We share the goal of ensuring there are enough places for people to live and of expanding access to homeownership—especially for first-time buyers—and ensuring that housing policy strengthens communities rather than limiting opportunity.
At our Annual Conference in November, REALTORS® adopted policy aimed at incentivizing large institutional owners of single-family rentals to transition homes back to owner-occupants while also creating new housing supply. As the administration and Congress continue to develop proposals in this space, NAR looks forward to working collaboratively to share our research, policy expertise, and practical solutions that boost supply, improve affordability, and put more families on a sustainable path to homeownership.” – Shannon McGahn, NAR Executive Vice President and Chief Advocacy Officer
Regarding institutional buyers:
At the national level, the share of residential purchases made by corporations, companies, and LLCs has remained relatively stable over the past decade, averaging around the mid-teens. After falling during the early pandemic period, investor participation rose in 2021 and peaked in 2022 at 17.1%, before easing in 2023 and 2024. The 2024 reading of 15.7% is broadly in line with pre-pandemic norms, suggesting that institutional activity has cooled from its peak but not surged beyond historical ranges.
A key distinction in the data is the role of LLCs, which account for the majority of entity purchases. When purchases by corporations and companies only are isolated, the national share falls to 3.2% in 2024, underscoring that large, institutional buyers represent a much smaller portion of total market activity than headline figures sometimes imply.
State-Level Data
Investor activity varies widely across states, reflecting differences in housing supply, price points, rental demand, and tax or legal structures. States such as Texas, Ohio, Utah, Tennessee, Indiana, and Oklahoma show higher overall shares of entity purchases, largely driven by LLC activity rather than large corporate ownership. In contrast, the share attributable specifically to corporations and companies remains relatively low in most of these markets.
A small number of states stand out for higher concentrations of corporate and company purchases, notably Rhode Island, Connecticut, Georgia, and New York, where the corporate share is meaningfully above the national average. These markets tend to be more supply-constrained or investor-oriented, which can amplify the visibility of institutional activity.
House Financial Services Committee Passes Bipartisan Housing for the 21st Century Act and Respect State Housing Laws Act
On December 17, 2025, the House Financial Services Committee marked up and passed two significant housing bills: the bipartisan Housing for the 21st Century Act (H.R. 6644) and the Respect State Housing Laws Act (H.R. 1078).
The Housing for the 21st Century Act — introduced by Chairman French Hill (R-Ark.), Ranking Member Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), Housing and Insurance Subcommittee Chair Mike Flood (R-Neb.), and Subcommittee Ranking Member Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.) — represents a major bipartisan, comprehensive effort to address the nation’s housing affordability crisis. Read more here…
House Passes Lower Health Care Premiums for All Americans Act
NAR has long championed AHPs to provide choice and competition for small businesses and independent contractors seeking affordable, high-quality coverage alongside ACA plans. When the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) allowed self-employed individuals to join AHPs in 2018, several state and local REALTOR® associations offered comprehensive, lower-cost options without harming ACA markets. A court later overturned that DOL rule due to a confusing patchwork of federal and state laws. This bill would codify AHP eligibility for all small businesses and the self-employed. Our testimony and recent letter of support underscored that expanding AHP access remains a top priority for NAR members. Read more here…
NAR Sends FY2026 Appropriations Recommendations to Congress
NAR sent its Fiscal Year 2026 appropriations recommendations to the House and Senate Appropriations Committees as Congress works to finalize spending bills for the current fiscal year. The letter urges full funding for critical HUD programs, including Housing Choice Vouchers, fair housing programs, housing counseling, the HOME Investment Partnerships (HOME) program, and Community Development Block Grants (CDBG).
The letter emphasizes that these programs provide essential support for housing affordability, expand access to homeownership and rental housing, and help communities address the nation’s housing supply shortage. With both the House and Senate advancing bipartisan housing packages, NAR stressed that legislative reforms can only succeed if paired with sustained appropriations that allow policies to be effectively implemented at the local level.
NAR will continue working with appropriators to ensure robust funding for federal housing programs that support homeownership opportunities and community development.
President Trump Directs MBS Purchases to Lower Mortgage Rates
President Trump directed the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to purchase $200 billion of their own mortgage-backed securities (MBS) in order to lower mortgage rates. Mortgages rates fell nearly 0.2% the subsequent day, ending the day at 5.99%. NAR has advocated for the government, including the GSEs, to expand their MBS purchases to bring down mortgages rates, and applauds this move.
The Fed was the major purchaser of mortgages backed securities during the pandemic and for much of the decade prior. In 2022, the Fed began to pull out of the market leaving a vacuum of demand in its place. Rates rose as a result. And, in the fall of 2023, NAR wrote the Fed and Treasurypdf, urging them to wade into the market including directing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to increase purchases of their own MBS.
As NAR noted in its 2023 letter, while positive, this pressure on rates must be accompanied by efforts to expand supply.