President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday designed to bring down housing costs, addressing voters’ affordability concerns less than two weeks before the midterm elections. The order directed the Federal Housing Finance Agency to establish a pilot program under which mortgage insurance premiums could be canceled proactively once borrowers meet equity and other requirements based on their homes’ current market values. The program would apply only to mortgages originated after its establishment.
The order also established a task force focused on reducing the cost of manufactured housing. The group will be co-chaired by Housing and Urban Development Secretary Scott Turner and FHFA Director Bill Pulte, or their designee. It also directed the Agriculture and Veterans Affairs departments to reduce interest rates on single-family home loans issued directly by those agencies, subject to applicable law and available funding. “Homeownership is a vital pillar of our great Nation, and President Trump and his Administration are working tirelessly to cut burdensome costs and red tape to make the American dream of homeownership more affordable for all Americans,” the White House said in a fact sheet on the order. “Unnecessary regulations and outdated mortgage processes have made homeownership unaffordable and driven up closing costs.”
