Trump says he won't sign a housing bill. Congress doesn't care. The bill becomes law anyway in ten days without his signature. That's how the Constitution works when you refuse to do paperwork.
Retail traders heard "housing bill" and immediately panic-bought REITs at all-time highs. They read headlines like fortune cookies. Housing bill means houses go up, right? Wrong. The bill passed in June with bipartisan support, which means it does approximately nothing. When both parties agree on financial legislation, you're watching two divorced parents pretend to get along at your piano recital. Everyone's uncomfortable and the kid still can't play.
The bill targets institutional investors buying homes. Cute. Congress thinks BlackRock will read the bill and say "Aw shucks, guess we'll stop now." Institutional investors have lawyers. Those lawyers have lawyers. Those lawyers bill $900 an hour to find the loophole that says "institutional investor" doesn't apply if you route the purchase through a subsidiary incorporated in Delaware on a Tuesday.
Trump won't sign it because signing things requires reading things. So he'll let it auto-enroll into law like a free trial you forgot to cancel. Presidential leadership at its finest. The bill becomes law automatically, which is the legislative equivalent of your girlfriend saying "fine, whatever" and walking away. Technically you won, but you definitely lost.
Home prices keep rising. Institutional investors keep buying. Congress keeps passing bills that sound impressive in campaign ads. Trump keeps not signing things. Retail traders keep confusing activity with progress. The housing market continues doing exactly what it was doing before this bill, before the last bill, and before whatever useless bill comes next. But hey, at least Congress did something. They held hands and performed democracy theater while you got priced out of a starter home in Akron.
Photo by Gautam Krishnan on Unsplash
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