Photo: Alamy
President Donald Trump said Thursday that he is considering declaring a national emergency over housing, signaling a new move in his effort to address rising home prices and improve affordability for buyers.
“I’m looking at it,” the president told reporters in the Oval Office, saying he wants to balance protecting homeowners whose property values have risen sharply while also making it easier for younger and first-time buyers to enter the market.
“I want to take care of the people that have houses, that have a value to the house that they never thought possible, that have sort of made them wealthy and happy, especially in their later years. I want to keep them up. At the same time, I want to make it possible for people to go buy houses,” President Trump said.
The comments are the clearest indication so far that the president is weighing the use of emergency powers to address housing affordability, an idea administration officials have discussed privately for months. Earlier this year, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the White House was examining whether a housing emergency declaration could be used to speed up construction, reduce regulatory barriers and lower costs tied to building materials.
President Trump has repeatedly blamed high housing costs on elevated interest rates, restrictive zoning laws and limited supply. He has argued that the federal government should push for faster homebuilding and lower borrowing costs, while also urging the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates more aggressively. That stance has drawn increased attention as the president interviews candidates to replace Fed Chair Jerome Powell.
Policy ideas discussed by administration officials include accelerating permits on federally owned land, encouraging local governments to loosen zoning rules, reducing closing costs for buyers and reviewing tariffs that have increased construction expenses. Critics note that emergency powers would not automatically override local land-use regulations, which play a significant role in housing supply.
President Trump has not previously declared a national housing emergency, but he has made frequent use of emergency authorities on issues such as border security and trade. Housing affordability remains a top concern for voters, with home prices and mortgage rates, while slightly lower in recent months, still near multi-year highs.