Congress just passed one of the biggest housing bills in years

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The House approved the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act by a vote of 358 to 32.

The Senate passed it 85 to 5 the day before.

Now it heads to President Trump, who is expected to sign it.

The bill focuses on two problems that have dominated the housing market for years:

Not enough homes.

Too much competition from large investors.

The legislation cuts red tape for builders, expands programs designed to increase housing supply, modernizes FHA and rural housing programs, and supports converting vacant buildings into housing.

It also places limits on large institutional investors accumulating single-family homes, with caps around 350 units under certain provisions.

That part has attracted particular attention.

For years, private equity firms and institutional buyers have been accused of bidding up home prices and competing directly with families.

Even critics of the bill acknowledge that issue has become politically impossible to ignore.

Robert Reich called the investor restrictions a modest but needed step toward addressing one of the contributors to the housing crisis.

The bigger story may be what this vote reveals.

Housing affordability has become one of the few issues producing overwhelming bipartisan support.

A 358 to 32 House vote and an 85 to 5 Senate vote are numbers you almost never see in Washington anymore.

Not everyone is happy.

Some conservatives opposed the bill because leadership did not attach a voter ID measure they wanted included.

Others argue the legislation still does not go far enough to address the shortage of homes.

But after years of watching prices outrun incomes, Congress is finally acknowledging a reality many Americans already know:

You cannot solve a housing shortage without building more housing.