Stephen Bissaha

Investors can build new homes to rent out, but the House version of the bill strips out the Senate's requirement that those houses get sold off after seven years.

The bill now heads back to the Senate to consider for final passage.

Stephen Basaja, NPR News.

But what that means is that homes are going to continue to be expensive, that new construction is going to continue to be challenged.

Long term, there's uncertainty around how many homes will need replacing due to extreme weather events.

Oxford Economics' Nancy Vandenhouten also says declining U.S.

birth rates mean immigration policy will also play a role.

There's also short-term uncertainty due to the war with Iran driving up borrowing costs.

The National Association of Home Builders' Index on Builder Sentiment is the most pessimistic it's been in seven months.

Stephen Basaha, NPR News.

The NAR is revising its housing forecast down for the year.

That's because the war with Iran has raised the cost of borrowing, and that sent mortgage rates up.

The association went from projecting a double-digit increase in existing home sales to just 4%.

New home sales are projected to be flat.

The NAR says lower consumer confidence and softer job growth are also keeping buyers out of the market.

Home prices also hit a record high for March.

The median existing home sale was a bit less than $410,000.

But the NAR says housing is actually getting more affordable since wages are growing faster than prices.

Stephen Basaha, NPR News.

There were signs of a return to optimism among single-family homebuilders at the end of the year.