Washington, D.C., April 9, 2025 – David M. Dworkin, President and CEO of the National Housing Conference (NHC), delivered the following remarks at NHC’s Solutions for Housing Communications convening today:
As the housing crisis deepens under a rapidly shifting political landscape, it is more crucial than ever for communication professionals to keep policymakers and the media focused on solutions.
President Trump began his administration with an Executive Order to pursue “appropriate actions to lower the cost of housing and expand housing supply, among other affordability issues.”
NHC is working with U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Scott Turner and Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte to help them do just that. I recently had an outstanding meeting with Secretary Turner where we discussed Opportunity Zones 2.0 and how it can help build more housing for affordable homeownership, especially for the missing middle of the first-time homebuyer market, and our work to simplify the housing choice voucher program using AI.
Secretary Turner has said the changes he is undertaking are necessary because “the status quo is no longer working” and not helping the “most vulnerable people in America.” He’s not wrong.
The status quo should be unacceptable to anyone who is passionate about solving these problems. Secretary Turner promised that HUD would “cut and consolidate as necessary because that is a product of change,” while promising that “we will not slow down the Department’s mission critical programs and processes. We will not stop service to our nation’s most vulnerable individuals and families. We will not disrupt the important role of field offices with sweeping office closures. We will not leave public housing authority tenants and landlords without critical resources, period.”
NHC is committed to working with Secretary Turner to improve HUD programs and processes wherever possible, embracing his call for data-driven decision-making and insisting on data-driven assessments of success.
Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Pulte has said he is “laser-focused on the safety and soundness of our regulated entities as we ensure that the dream of homeownership becomes a reality for as many Americans as possible.” Yesterday, he posted on X that “we are turning around Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, slowly but surely.” He noted that he met with the CEO of a major global real estate company who said he had stopped by Fannie Mae’s headquarters and it was packed with people after years of being empty during past visits.
That’s good news, as there’s a lot of hard work ahead at both Enterprises to address the affordable housing crisis. But change in a multi-trillion dollar industry should come “slowly but surely.”
We must ensure these Enterprises remain safe and sound, that mortgage markets remain liquid and efficient, as they have been under bipartisan conservatorship since the Great Recession, and that the ultimate recapitalization and release from conservatorship is done to the benefit of American homeowners, homebuyers, renters, investors, and the taxpayers who stepped in to stabilize the housing markets in the first place.
We can do this if we work together.
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About the National Housing Conference (NHC): Founded in 1931, the National Housing Conference is the oldest and broadest housing coalition in America. NHC is a diverse continuum of affordable housing stakeholders who convene and collaborate through dialogue, advocacy, research, and education, to develop equitable solutions that serve our common interest—an America where everyone is able to live in a quality, affordable home in a thriving community. Politically diverse and nonpartisan, NHC is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. To learn more about NHC, visit www.nhc.org.