Tariffs exempt key building materials  

President Trump issued sweeping tariffs on U.S. trading partner, swiftly shifting economic outlooks across the country. Notably, the new tariffs exempted Canada and Mexico, key trading partners for building materials including gypsum and lumber, which were already hit with new tariffs in March. Currently, Canadian lumber is subject to a 14.5% tariff. While aluminum and steel were exempt from this latest round of tariffs, they remain subject to the previously imposed 25% tariff. 

While the exemptions are a small win for builders, most still expect to see construction costs rise as the market absorbs the changing landscape.  

“While the complexity of these reciprocal tariffs makes it hard to estimate the overall impact on housing, they will undoubtedly raise some construction costs,” said National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) Chairman Buddy Hughes in a statement. “However, NAHB is pleased President Trump recognized the importance of critical construction inputs for housing and chose to continue current exemptions for Canadian and Mexican products, with a specific exemption for lumber from any new tariffs at this time.” 

Mortgage rates fell sharply after the tariff announcement, moving down 12 basis points to 6.63% according to Mortgage News Daily. While the lower rate can be beneficial for some buyers, affordability issues remain prevalent as housing supply remains inadequate across the country and builders grapple with the new costs of materials.  

HUD launches new website 

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) debuted its new website, citing a need to streamline its former site in response to low user satisfaction rates and minimal site traffic. A HUD press release suggests that nearly 90% of the previous site's content has been removed. In 2024, HUD’s CFO office collaborated with the agency's customer and design experience teams to assess the website and survey its users. Survey results revealed that almost half of users were dissatisfied with the site, and fewer than 5% of its 9,000 pages accounted for 80% of total traffic. 

“Providing the best and highest quality service to rural, tribal and urban communities means that critical resources online should be streamlined, concise and user-friendly,” said Secretary Turner. “The new HUD.gov embodies these qualities and continues to build on our pledge to be mission-minded and fulfill our statutory responsibilities while efficiently and effectively providing vital information to the American public.” 

The revamped site features a streamlined user interface but lacks several elements from the previous version, such as subpages on the Federal Housing Administration’s insured mortgage servicing and numerous fair housing pages. Additionally, many pages now return a 403 error, meaning access is restricted by the server rather than the pages being deleted. 

The National Housing Conference is in the process of collecting archived HUD resources and making them available via its Housing Resource Center. 

GAO launches inquiry into HUD, DOGE fair housing cuts 

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has launched a federal inquiry into HUD and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) over their efforts to cancel fair housing grants. The investigation comes in response to a request from five Democratic Senators, including Ranking Member of the Banking Committee Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), after local fair housing groups filed 66 lawsuits challenging the reduced funding. 

The lawsuits stem from HUD’s cancellation of $30 million in congressionally approved grants to organizations that investigate housing discrimination complaints and promote equal access to housing across the country. The action was taken in collaboration with DOGE as a component of the White House’s broader initiative to make major cuts to federal spending and streamline federal agencies. 

Representatives from both HUD and the White House have not publicly commented on the investigation. 

Rocket to acquire Mr. Cooper 

Rocket Companies is set to acquire the largest mortgage servicer in the United States, Mr. Cooper, in the fourth quarter of 2025. The new deal would give Rocket a combined servicing book of $2.1 trillion across nearly 10 million clients, representing one in every six mortgages in the U.S. According to a statement issued by both Rocket and Mr. Cooper, Rocket is paying an equity value of $9.4 billion in stock for the acquisition. Per Rocket’s estimates, the deal could generate as much $100 million in pre-tax revenue, and $400 million in pre-tax savings due to streamlining operations. 

“Servicing is a critical pillar of homeownership – alongside home search and mortgage origination,” said Varun Krishna, Rocket CEO. “With the right data and AI infrastructure we will deliver the right products at the right time. That’s how we build lifelong relationships, by proactively unlocking benefits and meeting needs before they arise. We look forward to welcoming Mr. Cooper’s nearly 7 million clients.” 

Upon the completion of the deal, Mr. Cooper CEO Jay Bray is expected to be both CEO and President of Rocket Mortgage, reporting to Rocket Companies CEO Varun Krishna. 

“Mr. Cooper has been on a journey to transform the homeownership experience, and we have built the most advanced servicing platform in the mortgage industry,” said Bray. “By combining Mr. Cooper and Rocket, we will form the strongest mortgage company in the industry, offering an end-to-end homeownership experience backed by leading technology and grounded in customer care.” 

Democrats introduce bill to boost housing affordability in growing cities 

A group of Democratic Senators introduced a bill that aims to increase housing affordability in rapidly growing cities. The Housing Choice Vouchers Fairness Act would allocate an additional $2 billion in funding to HUD’s Housing Choice Voucher program and update the allocation formula to ensure a fairer voucher distribution. 

The Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) Program helps low-income families, seniors, individuals with disabilities, and veterans afford private market housing. However, its funding allocations are still based on population data from the 2000 census. Democratic lawmakers argue that these calculations must be updated to better support regions that have experienced significant population growth. 

Senator Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), one of the bill’s co-sponsors, cited her own state as being inadequately served by the voucher program due to its reliance on outdated population guidance. 

“Nevada is facing an affordable housing crisis, and it makes no sense that an outdated allocation formula is preventing us from receiving our fair share of federal housing vouchers,” said Senator Rosen. “That’s why I’m helping to introduce a bill to update the formula and provide additional funding to fast-growing cities like Las Vegas. I’ll keep pushing for solutions to lower housing costs for Nevada families.” 

Bipartisan rural housing bill reintroduced 



Senators Tina Smith (D-Minn.) and Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) reintroduced the bipartisan Rural Housing Service Reform Act, a bill that aims to improve rural housing programs and increase affordable housing in rural communities. The legislation would strengthen several U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Housing Service programs by decoupling the Section 521 rental assistance program from the Section 515 mortgage program, enabling households to retain their rental assistance payments even if a property’s mortgage has matured or been paid off. The bill would also better align USDA income eligibility measurements with HUD, allow loans that include accessory dwelling units, and invest in better technology at the Department.  

“The Rural Housing Service Reform Act is a testament to commonsense, bipartisan collaboration in Congress,” said David Lipsetz, President and CEO of the Housing Assistance Council. “The important legislation would modernize USDA’s flagship single family housing programs, provide new tools to help preserve their critical stock of rural multifamily properties, ensure that USDA single family loans are reaching Indian country, and allow for sorely needed technology and staffing modernization at USDA.”