Make American Housing Affordable (MAHA) Act of 2026

The Make American Housing Affordable (MAHA) Act of 2026 (HR7216) was introduced on January 22, 2026 by Rep. Kean (R-NJ) and referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means. It has exactly one cosponsor and has taken zero legislative actions since referral — no hearings, no markups, no companion bill in the Senate. This is a stalled, early-stage bill with virtually no path to enactment in the current Congress. The bill proposes a refundable $5,000 tax credit for first-time homebuyers (refundable meaning taxpayers get the benefit even if they owe no tax) under a new IRC Section 36C. The credit phases out for single filers with modified AGI over $250,000 and is capped at $50,000 of excess income before full phaseout. Joint filers receive $10,000 credit with phaseout starting at $500,000 AGI. There is no authorized or appropriated funding — the credit would reduce federal revenues (the Joint Committee on Taxation would score it as a revenue loss) rather than being a spending program. The funding mechanism is a tax expenditure, meaning it reduces Treasury revenue dollar-for-dollar for credits claimed. The maximum annual cost, if enacted, would be roughly $15-25B depending on uptake, but no CBO or JCT score has been issued because the bill is not under active consideration. Structural winners if the bill were to pass would be pure-play homebuilders D.R. Horton ($DHI) and Lennar ($LEN), which have heavy exposure to entry-level buyers. PulteGroup ($PHM) and KB Home ($KBH) also benefit but are more diversified into move-up and active adult segments. Mortgage lenders Bank of America ($BAC) and Wells Fargo ($WFC) have indirect exposure through origination volume but mortgage banking is a small revenue share for both. Real market data from the provided closing prices shows a clear sector selloff over the last 7 days: LEN dropped 4.48%, DHI dropped 3.36%, PHM dropped 3.76%, and KBH dropped 3.87%. However, all four builders had positive 30-day returns (LEN +3.45%, DHI +12.61%, PHM +4.39%, KBH +2.67%), indicating a short-term pullback in an otherwise uptrending sector. Bank stocks BAC and WFC bucked the builder weakness — BAC gained 2.38% over 7 days, WFC gained 3.34% — suggesting the builder selloff is sector-specific rather than macro-driven. The bottom line: HR 7216 has zero legislative momentum and cannot be the cause of any market movement. The recent homebuilder price action is driven by interest rate expectations, lumber costs, or earnings positioning — factors completely unrelated to this bill.