Dive Brief:
- The National Association of Home Builders announced Tuesday that for the first time in the association's history, it will endorse congressional candidates in the upcoming November elections.
- NAHB Chairman Ed Brady said the 74-year-old organization has decided to get involved in this year's election cycle to ensure that the "housing and economic recovery stays on track."
- Although the NAHB hasn’t yet announced the names of those it will endorse, Brady said in a press release that the association will endorse incumbents and challengers from both parties, all of which "have exhibited a commitment to advance policies that will promote homeownership and rental housing opportunities for all Americans."
Dive Insight:
Although the NAHB said it will announce the congressional candidates it supports in the coming weeks, it will not endorse a presidential candidate. Both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump have made overtures to the NAHB, with Trump promising to do away with cumbersome regulations and Clinton winning NAHB praise for her $25 billion housing plan. Clinton has suggested providing down payment assistance to potential homeowners, as well as counseling, a new look at how credit worthiness is determined, a clarification of borrowing rules and more affordable rental housing. Trump told the association last month that he would also reduce income taxes on businesses and "remove bureaucrats" who are preventing job growth with increased regulations.
Uncertainty around the upcoming presidential elections has been blamed for the sluggishness in many areas of the economy, and the construction industry is no exception. Along with the report last month that the value of construction starts fell 2% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $586.3 billion, Dodge Data & Analytics Chief Economist Robert A. Murray said the elections could delay investment in construction projects. The American Institute of Architects also chalked up a one-point decline in the July Architectural Billings Index to the uncertainty surrounding the race.