As the U.S. housing crisis intensifies, pressure is building from all directions—sky-high mortgage rates, limited land access, and political finger-pointing. The Trump administration’s housing chief has taken direct aim at Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, calling a $2.5 billion headquarters renovation a “fireable offense” amid growing housing unaffordability.
Meanwhile, new data from Realtor.com shows that unlocking federal land—often proposed as a solution—would offer only marginal relief in the hardest-hit areas like the Northeast, where shortages are worst but developable federal land is nearly nonexistent.
Mortgage rates stay high as Fed spends big
Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Scott Turner, appointed by former President Donald Trump, criticized Powell for keeping interest rates elevated while housing costs spiral. Turner argued that Powell’s reluctance to cut the federal funds rate has priced millions out of the market.
“It’s rich that an unelected bureaucrat like Powell is wasting billions of taxpayer dollars on building renovations while Americans struggle to buy homes,” Turner said.
The Fed has defended its data-driven approach to interest rates, maintaining its current rate between 4.25% and 4.5% in June. Trump, however, has called Powell “Mr. Too Late” and accused him of “choking out” the housing market.
10 million acres needed—but in the wrong places
Realtor.com’s latest housing land-use analysis, released July 22, shows that while the U.S. government owns around 640 million acres of federal land, most of it is in Alaska and the Western U.S. In contrast, the Northeast—where housing is most unaffordable—faces a shortfall of 830,000 homes but has negligible federal land managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM).
To close the 3.8 million-unit gap nationwide, America would need to develop as much as 10 million acres of land at median housing density. But the utility of that land depends heavily on location and infrastructure.
“Opening up federal land may help the West,” said Realtor.com Chief Economist Danielle Hale. “But real relief demands zoning reform and local-level changes.”
Home-building potential by density
The number of housing units per acre varies dramatically:
| County | Units per Acre | Acres Needed to Close Gap |
|---|---|---|
| New York County, NY | 61.4 | 62,000 |
| Cook County, IL | 3.7 | 1,029,000 |
| Clark County, NV | 0.2 | 19,912,000 |
Even small shifts in zoning policy—such as permitting multi-unit homes in single-family neighborhoods—could significantly ease the crisis without needing massive federal land conversions.
HUD moves out, saves millions
In a symbolic shift, HUD recently became the first Cabinet agency to relocate from Washington, D.C., moving into a more modern and affordable building in Alexandria, Virginia. Turner noted the move will save taxpayers $22 million annually, compared to continuing to operate from HUD’s aging D.C. headquarters.
By contrast, Powell’s renovation of the Federal Reserve’s Marriner S. Eccles building has ballooned to $2.5 billion—five times the cost of some entire housing developments. Critics, including Trump, say that money could have gone toward affordable housing construction or rental assistance programs.
What’s next for the housing crisis?
Despite political finger-pointing, solving the housing crisis will require a multi-pronged approach:
- Interest rate adjustments to lower mortgage borrowing costs
- Zoning reform to increase density in urban areas
- Infrastructure investment to make more land livable
- Use of underutilized federal land in viable markets
- Expansion of remote work opportunities to enable regional relocation
Realtor.com’s “Let America Build” campaign advocates for these exact measures, pushing lawmakers to cut through red tape and support new construction in the communities that need it most.