Trump kicks off 2026 with 2 major housing-related mandates
Economists were skeptical of the president’s corporate buyer ban but praised his mortgage bond purchase proposal. Plus, a Fannie-Freddie IPO is still possible.
Key points:
- This week, President Donald Trump proposed a ban on corporate home purchases and ordered Fannie and Freddie to buy $200B in mortgage-backed securities.
- Meanwhile, a Fannie and Freddie IPO launch — which administration officials said Trump was considering last year — is still on the table.
- Trump is expected to make additional policy announcements soon as part of his vow to implement “aggressive housing reform” in 2026.
The Trump administration kicked off the first full week of 2026 with two major housing-related announcements.
"We've changed the entire momentum of the housing market this week," Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte declared during a Jan. 9 appearance on CNBC.
While real estate economists expressed skepticism about a proposed ban on corporate home purchases, investors reacted positively to President Donald Trump's directive to buy billions in mortgage bonds, an announcement that caused rates to fall.
And that's not all — Trump is expected to further detail his plans to address housing affordability in the coming weeks.
Trump orders $200B mortgage bond purchase
A day after announcing that he is "immediately taking steps to ban large institutional investors from buying more single-family homes," Trump said that he will also be directing the purchase of $200 billion in mortgage-backed securities.
The move, which Pulte clarified will be executed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, "will drive Mortgage Rates DOWN, monthly payments DOWN, and make the cost of owning a home more affordable," Trump wrote in a Jan. 8 social media post.
Shortly after the announcement, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage dipped below 6%, according to Mortgage News Daily, bringing it to the lowest level in about three years.
But with limited information available about the president's plan — including how or when the purchases would occur — mortgage experts have warned that it's unknown whether lower rates will hold.
What about plans to take Fannie, Freddie public?
The move is possible, Trump explained, because he "chose not to sell" Fannie and Freddie during his first term in office, leaving the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) to instead grow in value.
Administration officials spoke often in 2025 of what a Fannie and Freddie IPO launch might look like — and that course of action hasn't been ruled out. Shortly before the president's announcement, Pulte told CNBC that Trump could make a decision on taking the GSEs public in the next couple of months.
More housing policy changes coming
The plans Trump announced this week are said to be just the beginning of the "aggressive housing reform" he promised to implement in 2026. Trump said in a Jan. 7 social media post that he will provide more information on his proposed ban on corporate home purchases when he speaks at the World Economic Forum later this month.
Meanwhile, Pulte told CNBC that he and other administration officials have presented Trump with "30 to 50" strategies "to get mortgage rates down, to get affordability back into the housing market" — and the president is expected to announce some of the strategies he has decided to move forward on in the next couple of weeks.
According to Politico, the White House is also working on an executive order expected to encompass some of Trump's promised policies.