The Federal government has created regulation that has been beneficial for the real estate market, but the American Action Forum believes further regulation could have a significant impact on lending, sales and starts.
The study, "Regulatory Reform and Housing Finance: Putting the 'Cost' Back in Benefit-Cost," said that Dodd-Frank regulations and Basel III capital standards could limit access to loans enough that there would be 20 percent fewer than would have otherwise been issued.
Additionally, the study said that there could be a million fewer housing starts in the next three years, 3.89 million fewer jobs and a 1.1 percentage point decline in GDP growth.
However, not everyone has the same sentiment about housing regulations that the American Action Forum does.
Julia Gordon, housing policy director at the Center for American Progress, told the Wall Street Journal that these regulations could be beneficial.
"If Dodd-Frank is done right, we should see somewhat expanded lending from what we have right now," she told the newspaper. "It's important to raise these concerns, but it's also important to be specific, and not just anti-regulation."
