JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon is calling for sweeping reforms to local zoning laws and mortgage origination rules, citing them as primary hurdles to housing affordability.

In an annual letter to shareholders, the chief executive of America’s largest bank argued that regulatory reform could generate an additional 500,000 mortgages per year in the United States. He also targeted local zoning laws for limiting affordable housing and artificially driving up development costs.

“Some politicians think that all regulations are good — the more the better,” Dimon wrote in the shareholder letter. “Given that many of these politicians come from the blue side of America’s red-blue divide, I think it’s more appropriate to call excessive regulation ‘blue tape.’”

Housing-focused policy goals form a core pillar of the bank’s newly announced “American Dream Initiative,” a firmwide, multiyear effort designed to expand opportunities and rejuvenate American economic dynamism. 

Through this initiative, JPMorgan Chase aims to improve affordability for hundreds of thousands of renters and buyers by heavily increasing housing supply and creating new homeownership and general economic opportunities.

The push for deregulation arrives as the U.S. economy faces significant macroeconomic headwinds. Dimon warned that geopolitical tensions, including the ongoing war in Iran and the reshaping of global supply chains via tariffs, could lead to “stickier inflation and ultimately higher interest rates than markets currently expect.” For mortgage originators and real estate professionals, higher-for-longer interest rates continue to be a central factor impacting market volume and affordability.

Despite these broader economic challenges, Dimon highlighted strong commercial and housing sector performance in 2025. The bank reported extending $10 billion to create and preserve over 60,000 affordable housing units last year. Furthermore, the financial giant maintained its position as the No. 1 multifamily lender in the nation.

Ultimately, Dimon’s letter frames regulatory modernization not just as a boon for major financial institutions, but as an essential step to reignite the housing market and make homeownership accessible for more Americans.

“Fixing these regulations would go a long way to helping people achieve this part of the American Dream,” wrote Dimon. He also called for efforts that replicate the “many examples of excellent public/private affordable housing programs.”