NCSHA Washington Report | January 30, 2026

One reason high housing costs are near the top of Americans’ affordability worries is that they aren’t limited to home prices and mortgage rates that are unaffordable for so many. For some fortunate enough to own a home of their own, it’s rising “hidden costs of homeownership” that are creating economic stress.

The collective impact of surging insurance, utilities, property tax, and home repair costs have “reached a level that fundamentally alters household economics and constrains consumer behavior,” to the extent that “owning a median-priced home consumes a staggering 47.7% of the median household’s income,” reports the asset management firm TCW.

Insurance costs have been rising for years; a Treasury Department study showed they outpaced inflation by nine percent on average between 2018 and 2022. They are up another 40 percent overall since then, with significant geographic variation, according to the digital insurance platform Matic.

Data from state energy agencies shows residential electricity bills jumped almost 30 percent on average between 2021 and 2025 and spiked 12 precent — triple the rate of inflation — during the first nine months of last year. The Wall Street Journal reports the trend is “vaulting utility bills into the political discourse across the U.S. ahead of the midterm elections.”

Cotality (formerly CoStar) finds property tax bills rose 27 percent on average between 2019 and 2024 and warns “short of government-led changes, homeowners will continue to contend with rising property taxes year after year.” A “movement to significantly curtail or even eliminate the property tax” is gaining steam in at least 18 states, according to the Tax Foundation.

“The cost of home repairs has been rising sharply” as well, writes Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies, citing a 34 percent increase in items tracked by the Bureau of Labor Statistics from 2019 – 2023. Repair and remodeling costs subsequently reached “decade-long highs…with no signs of reversing” last year according to an industry analysis.

These are some of the reasons one in 10 homeowners is now paying more than half their income for housing costs, according to Harvard’s analysis. They make the key point that the “significant growth in burdens among older homeowners is evidence that much of the recent increase in homeowner cost burdens is from long-time homeowners facing rising costs of homeownership rather than from new buyers stretching their budgets to afford a home.”

TCW’s thesis is that “non-mortgage carrying costs … have become a macro-relevant factor in their own right.” Other analysts have similar views.

“[R]ising insurance costs may undermine some … traditional benefits while making homeownership financially unsustainable for an increasing number of U.S. families,” writes one. Another observes, “[W]hen families fall behind on essential energy bills, it often signals trouble elsewhere in the balance sheet … and almost six million households now carry utility debt serious enough that it may soon be reported to collection agencies.”

HFAs and other home mortgage loan servicers, not to mention candidates on the campaign trail, should expect to hear a lot more about the hidden costs of homeownership this year.

Stockton Williams | Executive Director

In This Issue

• NCSHA Signs Letter Seeking BABA Relief
• Three HFAs Named Finalists for Prestigious Affordable Housing Award
• Senate Struggling to Pass FY26 Appropriations Bills; Partial Shutdown Likely
• HUD Directs PHAs and Owners to Verify Tenant Citizenship
• HUD Updates GRRP Requirements, Procedures
• NCSHA in the News
• Looking Ahead

NCSHA Signs Letter Seeking BABA Relief
NCSHA signed on to an affordable housing industry letter sent to U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Scott Turner and Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought this week to request an exemption from Build America, Buy America Act (BABA) requirements for HUD’s multifamily housing programs. The letter, led by the National Association of Home Builders, urges Secretary Turner and Director Vought to approve a full BABA exemption for all federal financial assistance programs administered by HUD, including the HOME Investment Partnerships Program, Housing Trust Fund, and Community Development Block Grants, or at least provide a five-year public interest general applicability waiver for HUD’s multifamily housing programs.

Three HFAs Named Finalists for Prestigious Affordable Housing Award
Three state HFAs — the Illinois Housing Development Authority (IHDA), MassHousing, and New York State Homes and Community Renewal (NYSHCR) — are among the 28 organizations named as finalists this week for the 2026 Ivory Prize for Housing Affordability. The Ivory Prize is awarded each year by Ivory Innovations, a foundation based at the University of Utah focused on supporting innovative solutions to address the affordable housing crisis. Awards are given annually in three categories: Construction and Design, Finance, and Policy and Regulatory Reform. Winners will be announced May 12 and receive $300,000 to advance their winning programs.

IHDA and MassHousing are both finalists in the Finance category, IHDA for its Access Plus program to expand access to small-dollar home purchase mortgages and MassHousing for its BILD Program, which provides creative financing for mixed-income rental developments. Both programs won awards last year in NCSHA’s Annual Awards for Program Excellence and were featured in programming during NCSHA’s 2025 Annual Conference.

NYSHCR was named in the Policy and Regulatory Reform category for its MOVE-IN NY program, which broke down regulatory barriers and financed the development of Modern Crossover Homes (CrossMods) which combine the affordability of manufactured housing with the design and benefits of site-built homes. The agency spoke on this program at NCSHA’s 2026 HFA Institute earlier this month.

Senate Struggling to Pass FY26 Appropriations Bills; Partial Shutdown Likely
As of this writing, White House and Senate leaders are trying to finalize legislation they agreed to in principle last night to pass five of the six remaining Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 appropriations bills — including the HUD funding bill — the House passed last week. The sixth bill, funding the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), would be delayed while negotiations continue over immigration enforcement policy. Under the proposed agreement, the Senate plans to pass a continuing resolution extending DHS programs for two weeks. This deal-making follows a 55 – 45 Senate vote Thursday rejecting the full House-passed six-bill appropriations legislation, with eight Republicans joining every Democrat in voting against it.

Even if the Senate passes the five appropriations bills and the DHS continuing resolution today, a partial government shutdown is likely since the current continuing resolution expires tonight and the House, which would have to approve the Senate-passed legislation, is not scheduled to be in session until Monday. Though it appeared the Senate was on track last night to pass the DHS continuing resolution and the five remaining appropriations titles (including HUD), the Senate adjourned Thursday night without taking action on the bills and reconvened earlier today.

The HUD portion of the package provides $77.3 billion, an increase of more than $8 billion from FY25 enacted funding levels. For more information on individual program spending amounts, see our blog.

HUD Directs PHAs and Owners to Verify Tenant Citizenship
Last Friday, HUD announced it is directing public housing authorities (PHAs) and HUD-assisted housing owners to review their tenants’ immigration status. PHAs and owners must within 30 days of the order review their EIV-SAVE Tenant Match Report, verify they have accurately reported individuals’ citizenship or immigration status to determine eligibility, and initiate corrective actions.

PHAs and owners who fail to comply with the established requirements will be subject to sanctions. HUD will recapture funding for payments made on behalf of ineligible and deceased tenants. The special review order follows a recent HUD audit of its programs that found nearly 200,000 tenants requiring eligibility verification; nearly 25,000 deceased tenants; and nearly 6,000 ineligible non-American tenants who may have received improper payments.

HUD Updates GRRP Requirements, Procedures
On January 26, HUD’s Office of Housing published an updated notice for the “former” Green and Resilient Retrofit Program to outline program requirements and processes for implementing what is now titled the GRRP Program. The updated notice says properties in the Comprehensive cohort, in addition to Leading Age and Elements category awards, can now move forward toward closing. Additional changes are that awardees must choose a loan rather than a grant, requirements to reduce or measure greenhouse gas emissions have been removed, and GRRP may no longer pay for renewable energy retrofits. The notice is effective March 1.

NCSHA in the News
Tax Notes, 1.28.26, Absent Congress, Protecting LIHTC-Funded Housing Has Fallen to States

Looking Ahead

Legislative and Regulatory Activities

• February 10 | House Financial Services Committee Hearing: Priced Out of the American Dream: Understanding the Policies Behind Rising Costs of Housing and Borrowing
• February 10 | House Financial Services Committee Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Hearing: Building a Solid Foundation: Restoring Trust and Transparency in Public Housing Agencies
• February 11 | House Financial Services Committee Housing and Insurance Subcommittee Hearing: Homeownership and the Role of the Secondary Mortgage Market
• February 13 | Comments Due | HUD Proposed Rule Repealing Its Discriminatory Effects Standard

NCSHA, State HFA, and Industry Events

• February 4 – 6 | National Community Development Association Winter Legislative and Policy Conference | Washington, DC
  Jennifer Schwartz will speak at this event.
• February 5 | Affordable Housing Investors Council Webinar: Permanent Supportive Housing Underwriting Guidance | Virtual
• February 12 | Raymond James Affordable Housing Investments Summit | Virtual
  Jim Tassos will speak at this event.
• March 9 – 11 | NAHRO Washington Conference | Washington, DC
  Jennifer Schwartz will speak at this event.
• March 16 | ULI Terwilliger Center for Housing: “Let’s Build” Policy Forum | Baltimore, MD
  Stockton Williams will participate in this event.
• March 18 | National Housing Supply Summit | Washington, DC, and Virtual
• March 18 – 19 | Yardi Forum: Affordable Housing and PHA | Boston, MA
  Jennifer Schwartz will speak at this event.