The House today approved a flood insurance reform bill that would reauthorize the National Flood Insurance Program to September 30, 2015, a provision strongly supported by the National Association of Realtors®.

Passage of H.R. 5114, the Flood Insurance Reform Priorities Act, would strengthen the NFIP and bring certainty to many real estate markets that are much in need, NAR said, and commended Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) for marshalling the bill through House passage.

“This longer-term reauthorization of the NFIP is critical to millions of taxpaying American families who rely on the program for flood insurance, which is required to obtain a mortgage in nearly 20,000 communities across the nation. This would restore flagging confidence in a vital program by ensuring its continuation for several years without further disruption to real estate markets upon which our nation’s economic recovery depends,” said Vicki Cox Golder, NAR president and owner of Vicki L. Cox Real Estate in Tucson, Ariz.

Golder noted that the authority has been allowed to expire twice in the past two years while Congress approved eight short-term extensions, resulting in multiweek delays if not cancellation of thousands of real estate transactions. Such stop-gap measures have caused many hardships and lost sales for property buyers, sellers and their communities, she said.

The bill now heads to the Senate where the prospects of passage are not clear.

The National Association of Realtors®, “The Voice for Real Estate,” is America’s largest trade association, representing 1.1 million members involved in all aspects of the residential and commercial real estate industries.