National Housing Act" width="" />We are an independent, advertising-supported comparison service. Our goal is to help you make smarter financial decisions by providing you with interactive tools and financial calculators, publishing original and objective content, by enabling you to conduct research and compare information for free - so that you can make financial decisions with confidence.
Bankrate has partnerships with issuers including, but not limited to, American Express, Bank of America, Capital One, Chase, Citi and Discover.
The offers that appear on this site are from companies that compensate us. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site, including, for example, the order in which they may appear within the listing categories, except where prohibited by law for our mortgage, home equity and other home lending products. But this compensation does not influence the information we publish, or the reviews that you see on this site. We do not include the universe of companies or financial offers that may be available to you.
National Housing Act" width="" />
Written by
Meaghan Hunt
Meaghan Hunt is a researcher, writer, and editor across disciplines with a passion for personal finance topics. After a decade of working in public libraries, she now writes, edits, and researches as a full-time freelancer.
Edited by
Troy Segal
Troy Segal is a senior editor for Bankrate. She edits stories about mortgages and home equity, along with the finer financial points of owning and maintaining a home.
At Bankrate we strive to help you make smarter financial decisions. While we adhere to strict editorial integrity , this post may contain references to products from our partners. Here's an explanation for how we make money .
Bankrate logoFounded in 1976, Bankrate has a long track record of helping people make smart financial choices. We’ve maintained this reputation for over four decades by demystifying the financial decision-making process and giving people confidence in which actions to take next.
Bankrate follows a strict editorial policy, so you can trust that we’re putting your interests first. All of our content is authored by highly qualified professionals and edited by subject matter experts, who ensure everything we publish is objective, accurate and trustworthy.
Buying or selling a home is one of the biggest financial decisions an individual will ever make. Our real estate reporters and editors focus on educating consumers about this life-changing transaction and how to navigate the complex and ever-changing housing market. From finding an agent to closing and beyond, our goal is to help you feel confident that you're making the best, and smartest, real estate deal possible.
Bankrate logoBankrate follows a strict editorial policy, so you can trust that we’re putting your interests first. Our award-winning editors and reporters create honest and accurate content to help you make the right financial decisions.
We value your trust. Our mission is to provide readers with accurate and unbiased information, and we have editorial standards in place to ensure that happens. Our editors and reporters thoroughly fact-check editorial content to ensure the information you’re reading is accurate. We maintain a firewall between our advertisers and our editorial team. Our editorial team does not receive direct compensation from our advertisers.
Bankrate’s editorial team writes on behalf of YOU – the reader. Our goal is to give you the best advice to help you make smart personal finance decisions. We follow strict guidelines to ensure that our editorial content is not influenced by advertisers. Our editorial team receives no direct compensation from advertisers, and our content is thoroughly fact-checked to ensure accuracy. So, whether you’re reading an article or a review, you can trust that you’re getting credible and dependable information.
Bankrate logoYou have money questions. Bankrate has answers. Our experts have been helping you master your money for over four decades. We continually strive to provide consumers with the expert advice and tools needed to succeed throughout life’s financial journey.
Bankrate follows a strict editorial policy, so you can trust that our content is honest and accurate. Our award-winning editors and reporters create honest and accurate content to help you make the right financial decisions. The content created by our editorial staff is objective, factual, and not influenced by our advertisers.
We’re transparent about how we are able to bring quality content, competitive rates, and useful tools to you by explaining how we make money.
Bankrate.com is an independent, advertising-supported publisher and comparison service. We are compensated in exchange for placement of sponsored products and services, or by you clicking on certain links posted on our site. Therefore, this compensation may impact how, where and in what order products appear within listing categories, except where prohibited by law for our mortgage, home equity and other home lending products. Other factors, such as our own proprietary website rules and whether a product is offered in your area or at your self-selected credit score range, can also impact how and where products appear on this site. While we strive to provide a wide range of offers, Bankrate does not include information about every financial or credit product or service.
The National Housing Act (NHA) was a piece of legislation that formed a key part of the New Deal, the series of federal programs to restore the U.S. economy in the 1930s. Intended to promote homeownership, the Act improved housing conditions, made mortgages more accessible and affordable, and reduced the foreclosure rate on homes during the Great Depression.
Also known as the Wagner-Steagall Housing Act, the NHA was signed into law on June 27, 1934, by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. It created two federal agencies, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) and the Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation (FSLIC). The FSLIC insured insured savings and loans account holders’ deposits and operated from 1934-1989.
The FHA insured mortgage lenders and banks against the threat of borrower default on their loans, in return for a fee. The FHA became part of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in 1965.
The stock market crash of 1929 wiped out the assets of professional investors and regular citizens alike. Thousands of U.S. banks failed, as did numerous businesses. Unemployment skyrocketed, as did foreclosures: By 1933, nearly 50 percent of all mortgages were delinquent or in default.
One of the sectors hit hardest during the Great Depression was the construction industry. To revive it, along with the mortgage lending business, the FHA provided federal guarantees for loans made by building and loan associations, banks and other financial institutions. The idea was that the government backing would reassure the institutions and encourage them to lend, on more generous terms. That would in turn encourage individuals to buy homes, which would in turn stimulate developers to build them.
As a result of the NHA, mortgages — and the concept of homeownership — became more available to thousands of middle-class and working class Americans. The government-backed loans did jump-start the real estate market. Along with homes, they stimulated the construction of farm buildings and small commercial properties and restored jobs in construction trades.
The National Housing Act was amended in 1937 to empower the FHA to clean up slum areas. The FHA made low-interest, 60-year loans to local governments so they could build apartment blocks, which were then rented to low-income families.
Among many low-income programs made possible by that law and other New Deal programs were the first public housing projects across the United States. This fell in line with President Roosevelt’s beliefs, later solidified in the 1944 Economic Bill of Rights speech, of the “right of every family to a decent home.”
In the 1930s, the National Housing Act helped revive the lending and construction industry by guaranteeing loans. In the longer term, the NHA provided the scaffolding for more stable and equitable housing for Americans throughout much of the 20th century. Home mortgage terms became more standardized — in fact, the familiar 30-year fixed-interest mortgage that finances 80 percent of a home purchase, evolved as a result of the program.
The FHA helped finance new housing developments and communities on the outskirts of major cities. While it was not a cure-all for the inequities in American housing across racial groups, the NHA did pave the way for later federal legislation having to do with equal opportunity and fairness of housing in the United States.
And it introduced the concept of federally insured mortgages, which spread to other agencies. In fact, FHA loans are still in existence today, making homeownership possible for those with low-to-moderate incomes or little credit.
