SEC TURNER: Homeownership is making a comeback thanks to Trump, but there’s more to come

 In his recent address to the American people, President Donald Trump said: "Eleven months ago, I inherited a mess. And I’m fixing it."  

When it comes to the border, Trump inherited a catastrophe. Border security became a joke under the Biden administration, which allowed millions of illegal aliens to rush into our country. This travesty did not only make a mockery of our laws, it also increased demand for affordable housing, which in turn increased housing costs for American families. 

A recent Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) report revealed that foreign-born migrants accounted for two-thirds of the growth in rental demand across the country. Some places, such as California and New York, saw a 100% growth in migrant-fueled rental demand.  

Outrageously, some illegals even received HUD’s housing help, siphoning taxpayer dollars away from American citizens. Under Trump’s leadership, HUD is ending this insanity. We cut off illegals from receiving FHA-insured mortgages and announced a hotline to report illegal residents in HUD housing, along with other criminals, because public housing must be safe housing. We are taking decisive action to ensure HUD-funded programs and resources are not benefiting ineligible individuals or illegals.

The mess that Trump is fixing goes beyond immigration, and over the past year, HUD has scored win after win to restore sanity and good sense to housing policy. We are putting the American Dream of homeownership back within the grasp of the American people by promoting deregulation, self-sufficiency and common sense.  

We started by scrapping the Biden-era Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) rule. The Biden administration’s negligence in enforcing border security was only matched by its zeal in imposing burdensome regulations on innocent Americans, and the AFFH rule burdened America’s suburbs with red tape. Ending this regulation was a critical step in restoring freedom to local communities.  

You cannot regulate your way to prosperity. But you can innovate.

That is one of America’s core strengths, along with market-based solutions and private sector ingenuity. At Trump’s direction, we are recalibrating HUD away from overregulation and toward supporting these key tenets of our economy.  

That is why I am a longtime champion of Opportunity Zones. This landmark policy has lifted more than 1 million Americans out of poverty. And Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which is the largest working family tax cut in modern history, enhances Opportunity Zones permanently. Opportunity Zones are now expected to support over $100 billion of investment, create more than 1 million new jobs and facilitate construction of hundreds of thousands of new homes. 

I’ve personally been to 13 Opportunity Zones in Florida, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Georgia and other states, and I’ve witnessed how lives are being transformed.

I visited a vacant factory space in Green Bay, Wisconsin, that was redeveloped into a mixed-use space with affordable homes and thriving businesses; a $5 billion development in Atlanta, Georgia, offering new housing and office spaces; and a factory using cutting-edge methods to build modular homes in Columbus, Ohio. I have spoken to business owners, workers and residents who have seen their downtown areas being rejuvenated, and I have seen the new life animating these places.  

Of course, HUD still delivers crucial housing assistance and the numbers prove it. 

This year we helped more than 1 million Americans achieve the American Dream of homeownership by insuring mortgages through HUD’s Federal Housing Administration. This is in addition to the work of HUD’s Government National Mortgage Association, or Ginnie Mae, which provided critical liquidity for more than 430,000 Veterans Affairs loans.

And to combat homelessness, we welcomed more than 350,000 faith-based organizations back to the table as partners to provide care for the most vulnerable and help them achieve self-sufficiency instead of permanent government dependence.  

In addition to supporting homeownership, HUD also assists Americans whose homes were damaged or destroyed in natural disasters. This year, we delivered $12 billion in disaster recovery funds to hurting communities that were affected by floods, storms and other catastrophes.

I personally visited California, North Carolina, and my own beloved state of Texas to meet with survivors of wildfires, storms and floods, hear their needs and see how HUD can help them recover from the wreckage.   

But HUD cannot properly focus on such important work when our resources and energy are wasted by promoting radical political ideology.

That’s why our anti-wokeness campaign involved canceling $250 million in wasteful contracts and disbanding the PAVE task force, which disrupted housing markets to supposedly address so-called "systemic biases." We also restored safety to HUD shelters for vulnerable women by ending enforcement of a Biden-era rule that allowed men to invade these safe havens. Finally, in cities like Boston, we held local leaders accountable and launched an investigation into illegal, race-based housing policies.  

There is more for us to do next year and beyond, but our achievements in 2025 have laid a foundation of success on which we will continue to build. As we approach our great nation’s 250th birthday, HUD will continue protecting and promoting independence and self-sufficiency as the keys to the American Dream of homeownership. 

Secretary Scott Turner leads the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. He previously served as executive director of the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council, where he championed Opportunity Zones during the first administration of President Donald J. Trump. 

https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/sec-turner-homeownership-making-comeback-thanks-trump-theres-more-come

Mamdani’s rent-stabilized Astoria apartment renting for 35% more than he paid: ‘hypocrisy’

 That’s one hell of a markup.

Whoever moves into NYC Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s rent-stabilized apartment in Queens will be shelling out an extra $800 — or 35% — more per month than what the socialist “nepo baby” did, The Post has learned.

The Astoria apartment — which has quietly attracted interest from potential tenants for the past few weeks — is now commanding $3,100 per month while still remaining rent stabilized, sources said.

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The newest resident for Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s rent-stabilized apartment in Astoria, Queens, will be paying an extra $800 per month, The Post has learned.Andrew Schwartz / SplashNews.com

Mamdani — who’ll be moving into Gracie Mansion with his “aloof” artist wife Rama Duwaji sometime after being sworn in Jan. 1 — caught a break during the seven years he’s rented the one-bedroom Astoria pad, paying about $2,300 because his landlord charged him a much lower rate than what was allowed by law.

The son of millionaire award-nominated filmmaker Mira Nair and tenured Columbia professor Mahmood Mamdani was getting what’s known as a “preferential rent” — a temporary discounted rate landlords sometimes offer on rent-stabilized apartments to attract tenants in softer markets.

But with the Big Apple rental market in shambles and rents at an all-time-high since he moved in, the next renter won’t enjoy that same benefit.

“Isn’t that just the Democratic Socialists of America’s New York in a nutshell?” said NYC Council Minority Leader Joanne Ariola (R-Queens).

“A nepo baby leaves his under-market apartment for a mansion, the price gets jacked up for the next guy, and some ill-conceived legislation forces the landlords to make an off-market listing to avoid the fees ‘progressive’ policies shoved down their throats.”

Mamdani — who was elected on promises of affordability and a pledge to freeze rent increases –confirmed to The Post last week he’s ditching his proletariat digs.

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Mamdani, along with Rama Duwaji, will move into Gracie Mansion sometime after Jan. 1.Brigitte Stelzer

“I’m giving it up!” insisted Mamdani to a Post reporter outside the 35th Street apartment building on Dec. 20, before laughing off questions about whether he’s sad to leave and heading inside.

Adding insult to injury, Mamdani’s unit is being leased off-market — a practice that has exploded since the city’s new Fairness in Apartment Rental Expenses (FARE) Act went into effect in June.

The controversial broker-fee ban — which Mamdani himself lobbied for as a state Assemblyman — sent prices through the roof as the fee became baked into rents.

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The extra $800 per month in rent at the Astoria complex is a 35% increase from what the socialist “nepo baby” paid.J.C. Rice

Since the FARE Act, new listings on the Real Estate Board of New York’s Residential Listing Service collapsed 77% as an increasing number of brokers kept exclusive listings “off market” as a way to bypass the ban, an analysis by real estate firm UrbanDigs found.

Together with the 2019 rent reforms that resulted in a number of landlords finding it more financially viable to leave rent-stabilized units vacant rather than rent them, it has put supply at an all-time low, and rents at an all-time high.

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Several tenants have inquired about the space at 32-15 35th Street.MQ Realty LLC

“This is exactly what New Yorkers are sick of: politicians who benefit from housing arrangements while pushing policies that make rents higher and listings disappear for everyone else,” said Councilman Robert Holden, a conservative Queens Democrat.

“It is always the same story with nepo baby communists backed by trust funds who never pay the price for the policies they impose. If Mamdani’s idea of affordable housing only works for him and no one else, then it is not affordable. It is hypocrisy.”

Mamdani faced criticism during the mayoral campaign for living in his dirt-cheap digs for years — despite his $142,000 salary as a Queens assemblyman and vast family wealth.

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The rent-stabilized apartment is currently listed at $3,100 per month.AP

The socialist said he first got the pad in the so-called People’s Republic of Astoria in late 2018 when he was only earning about $47,000 a year as a foreclosure prevention housing counselor — and has claimed he didn’t know the unit was rent-stabilized.

The next year, he whined about the rent.

“Today, our 1 bedroom rent stabilized apartment in Astoria costs us $2000/month. In 1984, this same apartment cost $290.60/month. What is this, if not theft?” he raged on X in November 2019, urging his followers to check their apartments’ stabilization status and request their rent history.

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Mamdani confirmed to The Post last week that he will be leaving his Astoria apartment for Gracie Mansion.Brigitte Stelzer

Despite its good intentions, Gotham’s rent-stabilized system has become so competitive it’s been criticized for only favoring a select few – often well-connected or high earners – while distorting the broader market by pushing landlords to hike market-rate rents to subsidize stabilized units.

Mamdani’s camp did not return The Post’s calls and messages about the price of his Astoria pad.

https://nypost.com/2025/12/27/us-news/zohran-mamdanis-rent-stabilized-astoria-apartment-renting-for-35-more-than-socialist-lawmaker-paid/

Cities want control of short-term rentals, but AZ won’t allow it

 A unanimous Arizona Court of Appeals ruling this fall sent a blunt message to city halls: When it comes to short-term rentals, local control has hard limits in this state. 

The decision arrives as cities across Arizona, grappling with rising housing costs and shrinking inventory, have pushed to regulate where, when, and how many homes can be turned into Airbnbs, VRBOs, and the like. But a 2017 state law sharply limits their authority, barring cities from restricting or banning short-term rentals altogether.

That law, though, is a relic of a different era for the state. Since the 2020 Census, Arizona’s population has grown by 6%, ranking fifth in the nation for numeric growth, according to the Arizona Office of Economic Opportunity. And like many places that saw a pandemic-era influx of new residents, State 48 now faces a deepening housing crunch.

Critics and some city officials argue that short-term rentals may be compounding the problem. While they generate tourism dollars and tax revenue, they also pull homes off the long-term market, tightening supply at a time when demand is surging.

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Arizona Court of Appeals ruled cities can’t broadly regulate short-term rentals.Aldeca Productions – stock.adobe.com

Now, as pressure mounts in fast-growing cities and resort towns alike, local leaders are calling for the power to rein in short-term rentals. But so far, they’re hitting the same legal wall.

The housing crunch

Arizona’s housing supply has lagged behind its population growth. The state earned a lackluster “C” in a recent nationwide report card on housing affordability, state Department of Housing estimates estimate the housing shortage at roughly 270,000 units.

That imbalance is most visible across Arizona’s most sought-after areas. Since 2019, the college and ski town of Flagstaff has seen median home prices jump nearly 62%, according to data from Realtor.com®. Sedona, a resort town and top tourism destination, has seen a 49.5% increase. The major metros of Tucson and Phoenix aren’t far behind, with gains of 45.3% and 42.2%, respectively.

That’s why, in November, the Pima County Board of Supervisors—which oversees the Tucson metro—formally requested the power to regulate short-term rentals within its jurisdiction.

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The decision comes as Arizona faces a housing crunch, with cities blaming rentals for tightening supply.John – stock.adobe.com

Supervisor Jennifer Allen, who represents Tucson’s District 3, noted that the city has at least 6,000 short-term rentals, 90% of which are single-family homes.

Allen was not immediately available for comment, but she told KOLD in November, “That’s why the county and the local governments being able to take back some of the regulatory freedom to be able to determine where and when short-term rentals may or may not make sense is so incredibly important.”

Yet, just weeks later, the state Court of Appeals delivered their unanimous ruling rejecting Sedona’s attempt to prevent a mobile home park from converting some of its units into short-term rentals. The city had argued that local zoning rules should block such conversions. The court disagreed.

Their ruling reinforced the grip of SB 1350, the 2017 law that bars jurisdictions from banning or broadly limiting short-term rentals. And for residents of that Sedona mobile home park, it raised the specter of being displaced in favor of nightly guests.

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The ruling rejected Sedona’s bid to stop a mobile home park conversion, raising displacement fears.Tada Images – stock.adobe.com

“Nothing in the legislative history of SB 1350 indicated that the Legislature intended to allow the wholesale eviction of residents through conversion of mobile home parks into de facto hotels,” Lauren Brown, Sedona’s communications director, told The Arizona Daily Star. “Such conversions bypass local zoning processes and are disastrous for the availability of affordable long-term housing for Arizona’s most vulnerable residents.”

It’s not just a Sedona issue, either. Across the country, mobile home park residents face rising risks of eviction when parks are purchased by investors. In Florida, eviction filings jump by 40% in the months following a park sale, according to data from Princeton’s Eviction Lab.

https://nypost.com/2025/12/26/real-estate/cities-want-control-of-short-term-rentals-but-this-state-wont-allow-it/