Romeo Arrieta on KOLD 13: How NFIP Uncertainty Disrupts the Housing Market
The KOLD 13 News segment highlights how potential lapses in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) create serious challenges for homebuyers, homeowners, and the real estate market. Romeo Arrieta, CEO of the Tucson Association of REALTORS®, explains that repeated short-term extensions and the threat of government shutdowns lead to widespread delays in home sales — nearly 1,400 a day nationwide and close to 20 a day in Arizona.
These interruptions carry a steep economic cost, amounting to nearly a billion dollars a month in Arizona alone. Arrieta emphasizes that even brief gaps in NFIP funding create uncertainty for buyers in high-risk flood zones and can halt transactions entirely. Nationally, the program supports roughly 500,000 home closings each year, contributing an estimated $70 billion to the U.S. economy and supporting about one million jobs.
Arrieta urges Congress to provide long-term stability rather than continuing short-term extensions, noting that homeowners need certainty and protection. Without it, families and communities remain vulnerable to financial risk and stalled progress. Lawmakers from Louisiana and Mississippi are pushing for an extension, but Arizona representatives have not yet responded to the request for support.