In the latest RealTrending episode, join Jim Tobin, the CEO and President of the National Association of Home Builders, as he unveils his comprehensive housing outlook for 2024. Discover the key factors currently influencing new home sales and construction, and learn about the organization’s strategic efforts to enhance housing affordability.

Tobin delves into the organization’s top advocacy priorities, sheds light on the rapidly growing housing types, and unpacks emerging homebuyer trends. This episode offers valuable insights for anyone interested in the future of the housing market.

Here is a small preview of today’s interview. The transcript below has been lightly edited for length and clarity:

Tracey Velt:  What are some of the things that can be done to improve housing affordability from a legislative point of view?

Jim Tobin: We have members of Congress or lawmakers always looking to fix anything and get it off their plate and move on. Our members don’t necessarily want the government to do anything. They want the government to get out of the way. I think we spend most of our time fighting against more regulation or trying to improve the regulations we have. We spend a lot of time at the local level trying to get governments to speed up their processes. Permitting shouldn’t take 180 days. Either we need to hire more people or we need to be a little faster in our processing because time is money when it comes to real estate.

That’s what a lot of people don’t understand about government affairs. So many times we are trying to stop bad pieces of legislation. I’ve never met a member of Congress who’s anti-housing. Never, in my career. I’ve never met anybody who’s anti-housing. Everybody wants a roof over their heads, but boy, there are some really bad ideas out there. And it’s incredibly important for us as an advocacy organization and all of our friends in housing to make sure that while well intentioned, some ideas just have really bad impacts on housing and housing affordability.

The RealTrending podcast features the brightest minds in real estate. Every week, brokerage leaders, top agents, team leaders, and industry experts share their success secrets, trends, and lessons learned navigating this ever-changing industry. Hosted by Tracey Velt and produced by Elissa Branch.