HOME Gets Reauthorized: What the ROAD Act's Infill Funding Means for Buyers

The most affordable new homes in America are not going to be built on the suburban fringe. They are going to be built on vacant lots in existing neighborhoods. HOME reauthorization in the ROAD Act is the funding mechanism that makes that happen.

What the HOME Program Actually Is

The HOME Investment Partnerships Program was established in 1990 as part of the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act. In the 35 years since, it has become the largest federal block grant program dedicated to producing, preserving, and rehabilitating affordable housing. HUD allocates HOME funds to participating jurisdictions, which are states and local governments that use the money to subsidize affordable rental and homeownership development.

Since its creation, HOME has helped produce more than 1.3 million affordable homes. It has funded homeownership for more than 300,000 families. It operates as a block grant, meaning jurisdictions have flexibility in how they deploy the funds, within broad federal guidelines, to address local housing priorities.

Why Infill Matters for Affordability

Greenfield development, building new homes on undeveloped land outside existing neighborhoods, has been the dominant model of American housing production for decades. But greenfield sites require new infrastructure: roads, utilities, schools, and public services. That infrastructure cost is embedded in the price of the home, pushing prices up.

Infill development, building on vacant or underutilized parcels within existing neighborhoods, avoids that infrastructure premium. The roads are already there. The utilities are already there. Schools and services already exist. The cost of infill housing, all else equal, should be significantly lower than comparable greenfield development.

The challenge is that infill sites are often more complex to develop. Environmental assessments, title issues, and the logistics of building in dense areas add cost that can offset the infrastructure savings. Federal subsidy through programs like HOME is often what makes infill development financially viable.

What the ROAD Act Does for HOME

The legislation reauthorizes HOME at increased funding levels, making $2.4 billion available annually, and adds specific provisions to incentivize infill development. Participating jurisdictions that document infill activity receive preference in HOME funding allocations, creating a financial incentive for local governments to prioritize infill over greenfield development.

The law also streamlines the environmental review process for small infill projects, addressing one of the most significant friction points that drives up the cost and timeline of infill development. For projects under a certain size threshold, a streamlined Categorical Exclusion applies, reducing the time between funding commitment and construction start.

The 2027-2028 Inventory Pipeline

The timeline from HOME funding commitment to buyer-ready housing is typically 24 to 36 months. That means the projects that get funded in the months immediately following the ROAD Act's passage will start delivering completed homes to buyers in late 2027 and through 2028.

For buyers who are building their down payment savings today, this timeline is directly relevant. A first-time buyer who starts saving now and uses Dreamfund to build a documented down payment account has approximately 18 to 24 months to accumulate savings. That positions them to be purchase-ready precisely when the HOME-funded infill pipeline begins delivering inventory.

Where the Homes Will Be

HOME-funded infill development concentrates in communities that meet HOME's targeting requirements, primarily neighborhoods where household incomes are at or below the area median income. These are often established urban and suburban neighborhoods with good bones but lagging home values, exactly the kind of market where a first-time buyer can find an entry-level price point.

Many of these communities are in secondary cities and inner-ring suburbs of major metros. Places like East Orange and Trenton in New Jersey, or neighborhoods in Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Cleveland that have the infrastructure of established communities but the price points of recovering markets. The ROAD Act's infill incentives are designed to direct capital to precisely these locations.

The Long View

The HOME program has a 35-year track record. It is not a new experiment. The ROAD Act's reauthorization and infill focus is an evolution of a proven model, adding new incentives and updated targeting to direct existing infrastructure toward the specific supply constraint that first-time buyers face today. More affordable homes in established neighborhoods, delivered over the next two to three years, is not a theoretical outcome. It is what HOME has always produced when adequately funded.

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