Presidential promises of a stronger housing market, dead Colorado residents getting HUD benefits, and Jeremy Allen White’s real estate obsession. From the wild and wooly world of real estate, here are our Hits and Misses for the week of Dec. 15-19.
Miss: Give Us Steak, Not Sizzle. President Trump used a televised address to the nation to list his accomplishments since returning to office. But as 2025 comes to a close, he admitted there was still work to be done, especially with his housing policy. Trump pledged that mortgage payments “will be coming down even further early in the New Year” and promised to deliver “some of the most aggressive housing reform plans in American history.” This all sounds wonderful, of course, but it is not TDS to question why Trump hasn’t delivered any meaningful results on the housing front during 2025. His promises sound like the old carnival barker strategy of selling the sizzle instead of the steak. With housing affordability still an elusive commodity and home prices showing no signs of going down, the sizzle isn’t good enough anymore. And putting off these results for weeks or even months is not the answer.
Hit: Aiming for Results. Over at the House of Representatives, the Housing for the 21st Century Act passed with bipartisan support through the House Financial Services Committee by a vote of 50 to 1. The bill, according to the committee’s summary, “streamlines housing development and affordability by updating outdated programs, removing unnecessary federal requirements, and increasing local flexibility.” A similar bill passed in the Senate earlier this summer. There is a lot to like in this bill, including improved “financing pathways for manufactured homes and small-dollar mortgages” and the enhanced “protections for veterans and vulnerable households while ensuring federal programs support stable, affordable housing.” Whether this initiative can come to fruition in the fractured Congress remains to be seen, but at least there is something happening that goes beyond vague talk.
Miss: I See Dead People. The public housing authorities in Colorado have a lot of explaining to do, especially after an audit by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) discovered benefits were granted to 221 dead people. Another 87 Colorado residents received HUD benefits despite being ineligible for assistance, while 2,519 beneficiaries need to undergo new verification to determine if they properly received government aid. Much of the alleged fraud is centered within the Denver Housing Authority. This goes far beyond mere clerical accidents, and it might not be surprising if audits in other states generate similar (or worse) responses.
Miss: Not So Fast. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) is calling for a moratorium on the construction of artificial intelligence data centers, claiming they are creating environmental hazards and higher electric usage while making “very, very rich men” wealthier while doing little of value to working Americans. Sanders’ class warfare cry is a silly argument that doesn’t deserve consideration, but the question of jacked up electric usage and potential environmental concerns requires attention – especially when one considers the current state of the electric grid. Sanders is right to be concerned, but his answer is the equivalent of swatting flies with a monkey wrench.
Miss: The Indiana Bears? A big thumbs down to Kevin Warren, president and CEO of the Chicago Bears, for threatening to take his NFL team across the state line to Indiana because the Illinois legislature is not moving at his desired speed by not immediately signing off on $862 million in public infrastructure funding and enacting a freeze on a property tax assessment at the site of his proposed new stadium in suburban Arlington Heights. Warren wanted to get started on building his new stadium this year, with goal of being ready by 2031 to host the Super Bowl at that time. But he seems to forget that Illinois has other priorities that demand lawmakers’ attention, and his peevish behavior is unbecoming and embarrassing.
Hit: A Little Light Scrolling. Actor Jeremy Allen White has no problems keeping audiences entertained with his popular show “The Bear,” but what entertains White? In an appearance on the “Smartless” podcast, White admitted a fondness for real estate-focused reality TV, especially, Ryan Serhant’s “Owning Manhattan,” and he admits to scrolling through the Realtor.com app, especially when he is visiting areas far from home. As White confirmed, “I don’t buy anything, but I like to fantasize. I send listings to friends, and they’re like, ‘Just buy it then!’” According to Realtor.com, White owns properties in Brooklyn and Los Angeles. And while some of the online listings White views are very tempting, he proclaimed that he has yet to be led into temptation by an alluring listing.
In Memoriam: John Aaroe. This week saw the passing of prominent Los Angeles broker John Aaroe at the age of 73. Aaroe graduated from the University of Southern California in 1974 and joined the real estate firm the Jon Douglas Company, where he launched the company’s luxury home division – one of his clients was First Lady Nancy Reagan. He opened John Aaroe & Associates in Beverly Hills in 1994 and sold the company to Prudential California Realty in 2002; the company was sold again in 2008 to Berkshire Hathaway. Aaroe launched John Aaroe Group in 2009, and that company merged with Pacific Union seven years later. In a 2017 interview with California Real Estate, Aaroe observed, “I didn’t inherit a company or have a dad with prominent friends. I worked four open houses every weekend to build my base. In real estate, you can be an entrepreneur and earn seven figures if you want by doing just one thing well: Work harder than the person on your left and right.”
Phil Hall is editor of Weekly Real Estate News. He can be reached at [email protected].
