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For young couples hoping to buy their first home, those extra costs can be the difference between ownership and permanent renting.
The National Association of Home Builders has tracked the growing burden for years, finding that regulatory costs now make up nearly one-quarter of the final price of a new single-family home.
Meanwhile, the White House report estimates America is short roughly 10 million homes.
That shortage worsened after the 2008 financial collapse, when construction plunged and never fully recovered. But according to the report, burdensome regulations helped ensure the rebound never truly came.
Biden Era Policies Made It Worse
The report also argues the crisis intensified under former President Joe Biden.
While Democrats frequently blamed “market forces,” Trump officials say Washington policy choices made matters dramatically worse.
Buried inside Biden’s climate agenda were costly efficiency requirements affecting HVAC systems, water heaters, ductwork, and other building components.
Industry groups estimate those mandates may have added up to $31,000 to the cost of constructing a new home.
Some of those rules are already facing legal challenges.
But for many Americans, the damage has already been done.
Builders had to absorb those costs or pass them directly to buyers, making homes even less affordable during a time of rising mortgage rates and inflation.
The administration is also accused of using environmental reviews and federal pressure tactics that slowed development while doing little to expand supply.
The result has been devastating for first-time buyers.
The average age of a first-time homebuyer reportedly jumped from 49 to 56 in just one year.
That is not a healthy housing market. That is a warning sign.
An entire generation risks being locked out of ownership while government agencies continue adding more fees, delays, and restrictions.
Trump Moves to Tear Down the Red Tape
President Trump has already begun taking action.
In March, he signed two executive orders aimed at lowering construction costs and expanding mortgage access through community banks.
One order targets regulatory burdens that slow or block new housing development.
Another seeks to make it easier for smaller lenders to provide home loans.
While Biden spent years expanding rules, Trump moved quickly to start dismantling them.
The White House is also considering tying federal housing dollars to real deregulation efforts by states and cities. That would pressure local zoning boards and permitting agencies to remove barriers that prevent builders from creating more homes.
Trump is additionally exploring ways to stop hedge funds and Wall Street firms from buying up single-family neighborhoods and turning homes into investment assets.
That could help place houses back into the hands of families instead of corporate landlords.
Trump has been clear about the mission: “I don’t want to drive housing prices down. I want to drive housing prices up for people that own their homes.”
The Only Real Fix: Build More Homes
Experts across party lines increasingly admit the crisis cannot be solved without increasing supply.
America once built between 1.5 million and 2 million homes annually during the postwar decades. That pace helped keep ownership within reach for working families.
But once regulations multiplied and compliance costs soared, construction slowed and never fully recovered.
Now the nation faces a massive housing deficit.
Trump’s team says the solution is simple: remove the hidden tax, cut the red tape, and let builders build again.
The 10-million-home shortage will not disappear overnight.
But for the first time in years, the White House appears focused on the real cause of the problem—and that has many Americans hopeful that the dream of homeownership may still be saved.
