INTERNACIONAL
The surprising hidden cost quietly adding nearly $132K to new home prices revealed
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Government regulations are adding nearly $132,000 to the cost of newly built houses, according to a new report released as Americans struggle to become homeowners.
The findings show that more than one-quarter of the final prices of newly constructed homes come as housing affordability remains a top concern nationwide, with elevated mortgage rates and limited inventory putting homeownership out of reach for many families.
The issue is also expected to be a key focus heading into the 2026 midterm elections, as lawmakers face growing pressure to address high housing costs and the affordability crisis overall.
AMERICA’S HOUSING MARKET COULD RUN OUT OF SOMETHING MORE IMPORTANT THAN HOMES
Housing industry leaders say states that have prioritized homebuilding have been better positioned to accommodate population growth and economic expansion. (Joshua Lott/Bloomberg/Getty Images)
The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), which commissioned the report, argues that regulations imposed by federal, state and local governments have become a major driver of the nation’s housing shortage and affordability challenges.
The study found regulations add an average of $131,734 to the cost of a newly built home, representing 26.4% of the final sale price. The estimate, based on the average new-home price of $499,500, marks the largest increase between consecutive NAHB surveys since the organization began tracking the data in 2011.
Regulatory costs have climbed a whopping 40% since 2021.
«We update our study every five years and this reinforces what we have been saying all along — that the cost to build a single-family home in this country continues to escalate and exacerbate the housing affordability crisis,» NAHB President and CEO Jim Tobin told Fox News Digital. «We’re up 40% over the last five years, and now regulatory burdens at every level of government are totaling more than $130,000 for the cost of a new home.»
NAHB estimates the U.S. faces a structural housing shortage of 1.2 million homes, arguing rising regulatory costs make it more difficult to increase supply.
Tobin said regulatory costs vary across the country, with states in the Southeast, including Texas, Florida and the Carolinas, generally maintaining a lower-cost regulatory environment than states such as California, New York, New Jersey and Illinois.
AMERICANS KEEP MOVING TO TEXAS AND FLORIDA — BUT ONE OTHER RED STATE IS GROWING EVEN FASTER
The NAHB report comes as housing affordability remains a top concern nationwide, with elevated mortgage rates and limited inventory putting homeownership out of reach for many families. (Angus Mordant/Bloomberg/Getty Images)
He also said he expects regulatory costs to continue rising, but believes policymakers can help slow the pace through reforms.
«Anything we can do to lower that cost, I think would be really important,» Tobin said.
He pointed to the bipartisan 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, which would streamline permitting, reduce barriers to new construction and expand financing tools intended to increase the nation’s housing supply.
The White House and the Department of Housing and Urban Development did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment on the report’s findings.
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NAHB said the study is not intended to argue that all regulations should be eliminated but to quantify their cumulative effect on housing affordability.
«While regulations are important, they can go too far,» Tobin told Fox News Digital. «We need to make sure health and safety are protected while getting rid of the more onerous and costly regulations that do nothing more than drive up costs and keep Americans out of homeownership.»
The analysis is based on surveys of 54 land developers and 337 single-family builders conducted in March 2026.
housing, economy, regulation, politics, midterm elections, costs
INTERNACIONAL
El-Sayed in the hot seat for another foreign rental property, nearly $300K in additional income
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Moments ahead of a primary debate on Monday night, Michigan Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed released a new financial disclosure, revealing new details about he and his wife’s assets worth up to $2.1 million.
The disclosures, which come a week ahead of a heated primary election between El-Sayed and Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Mich., shed new light on El-Sayed’s financials but questions still remain about the specifics of his wealth. While, broadly, much of their information was already known through reporting he did last year, the 2026 filing adds three key additions.
El Sayed and his wife listed a rental property in Dubai worth up to $250,000, a liability to a company in Dubai worth up to $100,000 and a tweak to El-Sayed’s employment status in Michigan.
SOCIALIST-BACKED DEM WHO RIPPED THE WEALTHY CRACKS STATE’S TOP 1%, TAX RETURNS SHOW
Abdul El-Sayed, candidate for US Senate in Michigan, speaks before U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) takes the stage at Mumford High School on May 3, 2026 in Detroit, Michigan. (Sarah Rice/Getty Images)
Past reporting had already show that El-Sayed’s wife owned a rental property in Ann Harbor, Michigan and another one in Bangalore, India.
The Dubai property makes a third real estate holding. The debt, worth between $50,000 and $100,000, is a liability owed to Majid Al Futtaim Tilal, a real estate development company that specializes in luxury residential projects. And finally, the filing adds that El-Sayed worked as a consultant for Wayne County, Michigan, with an income of $72,000. At the same time, the filing lists a salary of $82,750 — also for Wayne County. The consulting is a change from a salaried position listed at $278,900 the year before.
«Know many people who own rental properties in three countries?» Prominent gun-control activist Shannon Watts posted on X.
«Why are all the socialists rich????» Democratic analyst Rachel Bitecofer posted on X.
In total, both the 2025 and 2026 filings put El-Sayed’s net worth between $870,000 and $2.1 million.
The Michigan race has drawn national attention as Stevens, a more establishment candidate with the backing of Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., squares off against El-Sayed’s progressive promises to challenge the U.S.-Israel relationship, abolish Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and provide universal healthcare. His platform has drawn support from fellow progressives such as Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.
WATCH: SURFACED VIDEOS OF DEM SENATE CANDIDATE BACKING ‘DEFUND THE POLICE’ CONTRADICT RECENT DENIALS
Michigan U.S. Sen. candidate, Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Mich., speaks with media after a debate at WoodTV studios on Tuesday, July 7, 2026, in Grand Rapids, Mich. (AP Photo/Kristen Norman)
With a groundswell of support among progressives, Stevens has sought to paint El-Sayed as a far cry from the middle-class working-family base he claims to champion, needling El-Sayed over his net worth in a debate last month.
«Look, I am the only one running for United States Senate in Michigan who is not a millionaire,» Stevens had said at the time.
At the debate on Monday, Stevens resurfaced the filings and what she characterized as a lack of transparency.
«You have not released your tax returns,» Stevens reminded him. «You talk about getting money out of politics and putting money in people’s pockets, but still no one knows who’s putting the money in your pocket,» Stevens said.
El-Sayed, who filed the Senate report right before the debate, said he had made the necessary disclosures, sidestepping the comment about his tax returns.
DEM PRIMARY ERUPTS AS ESTABLISHMENT FAVORITE DISMISSES RIVAL AS ‘CELEBRITY CANDIDATE’
Abdul El-Sayed, candidate for U.S. Senate in Michigan, speaks before U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., takes the stage at Mumford High School on May 3, 2026 in Detroit, Michigan. (Sarah Rice/Getty Images)
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«This is a distraction from the issues in your life,» he said at Monday’s debate.
El-Sayed’s most recent disclosures follow an application for an extension which allowed him an extra 90 days to finalize his 2026 paperwork. That extension would have allowed him to submit his disclosures on Aug. 13 — a week after the primary. When confronted about the timeline, El-Sayed pledged on a podcast earlier this month to submit his disclosures before the election.
El-Sayed’s campaign did not immediately respond to requests for comment about the disclosures or the timing of its submission.
michigan, senate, politics
Como parte de su campaña antimigrantes, el gobierno de Donald Trump ha deportado a miles de cubanos. A algunos los ha enviado a México e incluso a países africanos, y a otros de regreso a Cuba.
Ahora, funcionarios estadounidenses están cerca de asegurar un nuevo destino: Uruguay, el segundo país más pequeño de Sudamérica, que ya tiene una población relativamente grande de residentes que emigraron de Cuba.
El Departamento de Estado, bajo el mando del secretario de Estado Marco Rubio, hijo de inmigrantes cubanos, ha estado discutiendo la propuesta con el Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores de Uruguay durante meses, según funcionarios de ambos países.
Uruguay entró en las negociaciones en parte porque necesita trabajadores migrantes, y en parte para ganarse el favor del gobierno de Trump, afirmó un alto funcionario uruguayo.
Pero a medida que Estados Unidos busca países dispuestos a recibir a cubanos, también está empeorando las circunstancias que, en primer lugar, obligaron a muchos cubanos a huir de su país.
En los últimos meses, la campaña de presión económica del gobierno de Trump ha bloqueado los envíos de petróleo a la isla caribeña, que ya estaba devastada por años de sanciones estadounidenses y el mal gobierno de sus líderes autoritarios.
Rubio dijo que Estados Unidos tenía muchas preocupaciones sobre Cuba, que está a 145 kilómetros de Florida, incluida “la amenaza de una migración masiva”.
Ese es “siempre un riesgo que se corre cuando los países están tan profundamente desestabilizados como Cuba”, dijo a los periodistas que viajaban con él en Manila la semana pasada.
En Uruguay, el gobierno busca regularizar a los migrantes cubanos para que puedan encontrar oportunidades de trabajo y acceder a servicios sociales. Muchos solicitan asilo inicialmente.
Algunos funcionarios estadounidenses piensan que eso podría ayudar a garantizar que los deportados no intenten regresar a Estados Unidos, al mismo tiempo que les permite vivir fuera de Cuba, dijeron los funcionarios.
Un acuerdo escrito con Uruguay podría no especificar a los cubanos en el texto, dijo un funcionario, aunque en la práctica ellos serían el foco de las deportaciones a ese país.
Algunos de los cubanos en Estados Unidos podrían tener familiares en Uruguay, y los gobiernos están discutiendo la posibilidad de reunir a las familias, dijo un funcionario del Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores en Uruguay. Al igual que otros funcionarios entrevistados para este artículo, habló bajo condición de anonimato para discutir negociaciones delicadas.
Leé también: Cuba anunció la apertura al capital privado en farmacias, geriátricos y estaciones de servicio
El gobierno de Trump le dijo a un tribunal federal en marzo que había enviado a 6000 cubanos a México, donde muchos tienen dificultades para encontrar trabajo. También ha enviado migrantes cubanos a África, incluso a Esuatini, anteriormente conocido como Suazilandia, y a Sudán del Sur, un país devastado por la guerra, donde los migrantes han sido recluidos en centros de detención.
La política es parte de un amplio esfuerzo del gobierno de Trump para encontrar naciones dispuestas a aceptar migrantes deportados de Estados Unidos.
El Departamento de Estado ha sido criticado por enviar a algunos deportados a países distantes donde no tienen conexiones, o donde los gobiernos tienen antecedentes de abusos contra los derechos humanos.
Los gobiernos de Sudamérica se han mostrado reacios a aceptar deportados. Pero Paraguay firmó un acuerdo con el Departamento de Estado el año pasado y ha aceptado vuelos de deportados de varias nacionalidades. Ecuador también firmó un acuerdo el año pasado, y entre los deportados enviados allí se incluyen cubanos.
Uruguay, una nación de 3,4 millones de habitantes, ha tenido durante mucho tiempo una política migratoria relativamente abierta. La Plaza Independencia en Montevideo, Uruguay. (Foto: Martin Varela Umpierrez/REUTERS)
Carlos Negro, ministro del Interior de Uruguay, afirmó que en su país tienen la tradición de dar la bienvenida a las personas que llegan de otras naciones, añadiendo que Uruguay nació como un país de inmigrantes. La mayoría de los uruguayos descienden de colonos y migrantes de España e Italia.
Aunque los grupos defensores de los derechos de los migrantes han criticado la política de deportación de Trump, algunos han dicho que para los deportados cubanos, terminar en Uruguay sería mejor que ser enviados a muchos otros países.
En marzo, Leydis Aguilera, quien emigró a Uruguay desde Cuba hace 16 años, se convirtió en miembro del parlamento nacional. Ha descrito la cálida bienvenida que recibió en Uruguay y cómo finalmente encontró oportunidades educativas y laborales allí.
Uruguay necesita expandir su fuerza laboral para compensar su población pequeña y envejecida. La opinión pública sigue estando mayoritariamente a favor de la migración, y las deportaciones son poco frecuentes. Incluso a aquellos que ingresan sin visa a menudo se les permite quedarse legalmente.
El año pasado, Uruguay tuvo casi 24.000 solicitantes de asilo de Cuba, según las estadísticas de la Organización de Naciones Unidas.
El Departamento de Estado declinó hacer comentarios sobre las conversaciones con Uruguay. “La implementación de las políticas de inmigración del gobierno de Trump es una máxima prioridad para el Departamento de Estado”, dijo en un comunicado. “Como ha dicho el secretario Rubio, nos mantenemos firmes en nuestro compromiso de poner fin a la inmigración ilegal y masiva, y de reforzar la seguridad fronteriza de Estados Unidos”.
El Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores de Uruguay declinó hacer comentarios.
Durante gran parte de la Guerra Fría, el gobierno de Estados Unidos recibió a personas de la Cuba gobernada por los comunistas y les ofreció un camino rápido hacia la residencia permanente y la ciudadanía. La Ley de Ajuste Cubano de 1966 ha obligado a los gobiernos demócratas y republicanos a mantener esta política.
Pero a partir del gobierno de Bill Clinton, los funcionarios estadounidenses han encontrado formas de eludir o debilitar los requisitos de la ley para intentar evitar recibir una afluencia de migrantes.
El presidente Trump ha acelerado eso. Su gobierno ha bloqueado varias vías hacia el estatus de residencia permanente y la ciudadanía para los cubanos.
Eso pone a 600.000 cubanos en riesgo de deportación, según María José Espinosa, directora ejecutiva del Center for Engagement and Advocacy in the Americas, que analiza datos de deportación.
Ada Ferrer, profesora de Historia en Princeton y autora de un libro sobre la historia de Cuba, dijo: “Hubo un tiempo en el que no perseguían a los cubanos debido a la Ley de Ajuste Cubano, pero ya nadie está cumpliendo con eso”.
“Si hiciste campaña con deportaciones masivas, vas a intentar hacer deportaciones masivas”, agregó. “Pero los cubanoestadounidenses pensaron que estarían protegidos”.
Un abuelo cubano de Rubio que voló a Estados Unidos en 1962 sin visa recibió una orden de deportación, pero se le permitió permanecer en el país después de que se le otorgara el estatus de refugiado, según una biografía de Marco Rubio escrita por Manuel Roig-Franzia.
Yael Schacher, directora para América y Europa en Refugees International, dijo que todos los planes de deportación eran “malas opciones”, especialmente aquellos dirigidos a personas que han vivido en Estados Unidos durante mucho tiempo.
Aun así, dijo, un país latinoamericano “con un sistema de asilo que funcione bien y que sea seguro es, digamos, la opción menos mala”.
A pesar de la relativa tolerancia de Uruguay, los migrantes a menudo tienen dificultades. Uruguay es caro en comparación con otras naciones sudamericanas. Muchos cubanos viven inicialmente en pensiones mientras trabajan como repartidores o conductores de Uber, cuidadores y guardias de seguridad.
*Por Edward Wong y Emma Bubola. Hamed Aleaziz y Eileen Sullivan colaboraron con reportería desde Washington y Tomer Urwicz colaboró con reportería desde Montevideo, Uruguay.
The New York Times, cuba, Uruguay
Abdul El-Sayed faces backlash over ‘ogre on a pike’ remark targeting Fetterman
Democratic strategist Al Mottur and former U.S. Senate candidate Tiffany Smiley discuss the backlash against Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed after he referred to Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., as an ‘ogre on a pike’ during a donor call. El-Sayed later defended the remark during a debate, drawing criticism from fellow Democrats over his rhetoric and far-left agenda.
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Senator John Fetterman, D-Pa., branded Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdulrahman El-Sayed «Pontiac Platner» after the left-wing upstart called for the «ogre» to be put on a «pike» at a campaign event, in comments widely understood to reference the Pennsylvania lawmaker.
A recording from a Zoom call with donors obtained by Politico appeared to depict El-Sayed railing against those who have criticized his far-left policy platform, while singling out Fetterman and allegedly envisioning his head on a stake.
Fetterman later responded to CNBC’s Joe Kernen by blessing El-Sayed with a new nickname:
«I never worked out in male modeling, you know you could call me «Senator Shrek» — whatever — but this guy is really the Pontiac Platner, and now he’s really running to be, be the head of our emerging pro-Hamas wing here in the party,» Fetterman said of El-Sayed.
DEM SENATE HOPEFUL UNDER FIRE FOR RESURFACED COMMENTS CALLING COPS ‘OPPORTUNISTIC COWARDS’
U.S. Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., speaks to reporters outside the Senate Chamber during votes on Nov. 10, 2025 on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
Pontiac is a well-known name in Michigan, stemming from the 18th-century Odawa chief to his namesake city and the now-defunct General Motors brand that was discontinued following the 2008 financial crisis.
El-Sayed has routinely criticized the Israeli government, and some of his policy positions overlap with those of Maine oyster farmer Graham Platner, who dropped his Senate bid after a series of allegations of sexual misconduct involving women.
«Politically, some of the things that he said or done are unacceptable to me. I’m not really sure what I’ve really done or voted for that that has offended the little guy so much,» Fetterman went on.
BERNIE SANDERS, DSA REVEAL DEMANDS FOR DEM PARTY AFTER SOCIALISTS SWEEP NEW YORK ELECTIONS
Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., left; Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, right. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images; Sarah Rice/Getty Images)
He added that Democrats are engaging in a «serious game» by allowing people in the «Bernie Sanders» wing of the party who «created the Platner disaster» some policy oxygen.
During El-Sayed’s Zoom call, the millennial left-winger spoke out specifically against Fetterman:
«In the interim need to be organizing downward and outward. So, a big pickup for us could be that John Fetterman seat [in Pennsylvania]. I’m like a lot of folks — they’re going to ‘F’ around and give me carte blanche to go take them out,» El-Sayed said.
«Y’all came at me so now I get to come at you and primary people like John Fetterman, and I have no problem with that — I’m looking forward to it.»
El-Sayed dismissed the longstanding custom against primarying sitting senators, a norm recently broken in the GOP when Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton defeated incumbent Republican Sen. John Cornyn in their primary.
«Then, what happens is, ideally, you put one ogre on a pike, and then everyone else gets the message, and all of a sudden starts to sound a lot different,» El-Sayed said.
The 6-foot-9 Fetterman took the insult in stride in his interview with Kernen, alluding to El-Sayed’s barb being his latest comparison to Mike Myers’ beloved green ogre that have cropped up in memes and elsewhere over the years.
«It’s incumbent on us, Republican and Democrat [alike], to police your own ranks. So that’s what I’m willing to do,» Fetterman said, adding that he is warning fellow lawmakers against eliminating the filibuster in one example.
El-Sayed and Platner also share several policy positions, including support for a single-payer, government-run Medicare-for-all system, anti-corporate housing policies, higher taxes on wealthy Americans and alignment with Sanders, a Vermont socialist.
While El-Sayed says he is neither a Democratic Socialists of America member nor a democratic socialist, he has a history of speaking at DSA events.
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Between 2017 and 2020, El-Sayed attended and spoke at six events held by the DSA, including a 2019 fundraiser which he headlined. Despite the longstanding relationship, El-Sayed has distanced himself from the DSA when interviewed by the press and outright rejected being labeled as a «socialist.»
«I’m not technically or practically DSA,» El-Sayed told the Wall Street Journal earlier this month. In an interview with CNN, he similarly stated that «I am not somebody who is a socialist. I believe in capitalism, I just believe that capitalism has to be regulated.»
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Fox News Digital reached out to Fetterman and El-Sayed for comment.
Fox News Digital’s Robert Schmad contributed to this report.
john fetterman, michigan, bernie sanders, graham platner, elections, michigan wolverines, maine, israel
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