Curtis proposes creative financing ideas, IRA changes to boost homebuying for young people
Get AI-powered insights, summaries, and transcripts
Subscribe
Summary
Responding to student questions at the Hinckley forum, Sen. John Curtis proposed 'out-of-the-box' housing ideas — from transferable low-rate mortgages to allowing certain IRA funds to be used for children's home purchases — as part of federal, state and local efforts on affordability.
An audience member asked Sen. John Curtis what his office and the Senate are doing to tackle housing affordability for young people. Curtis called for an "all hands on deck" approach involving federal, state, and local action and proposed a mix of creative financing and regulatory change.
He suggested examining transferable mortgages or mortgage structures that could carry favorable rates to new buyers and said that restoring or permitting certain mortgage assumptions could help increase housing supply by encouraging more sellers to list homes. Curtis also described proposed changes to retirement-account rules that would allow parents to use IRA funds to help a child buy a home while keeping favorable tax treatment; he said that could "unlock $1,000,000,000,000" currently held in IRAs, though he presented the figure as an illustrative estimate of potential capital.
Curtis emphasized zoning reform and local action, saying cities and counties need to rethink zoning to increase supply. He framed solutions as requiring coordination across government levels and creative thinking rather than single fixes.