Trump signs executive order targeting mortgage and housing costs

President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday directing the Federal Housing Finance Agency to start a pilot that cancels borrowers' mortgage insurance premiums once they meet equity requirements, and to make permanent a pilot waiving title insurance on refinancings.

Why it matters: The order works on the carrying and closing costs of a mortgage rather than on house prices, so its effect will show up in the premiums and fees borrowers stop paying and in whether loan rates at the Agriculture and Veterans Affairs departments actually fall.

Data as of Reuters report of October 22, 2026, read in full in syndication, and The Hill report of October 22, 2026, read in full; the measures, the manufactured housing task force and the department rate direction are as the White House statement described them. The executive order text itself was not among the documents read for this item, so the item is graded B. Developing item.

President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order aimed at reducing the costs of single-family home ownership and mortgages, the White House said in a statement reported by Reuters. The order instructs the Federal Housing Finance Agency to launch a pilot program that would proactively cancel borrowers’ mortgage insurance premiums once they meet equity requirements based on current market value, and to make permanent an FHFA pilot waiving title insurance on refinancings.

The order also creates a task force on manufactured housing innovation to expand factory-built housing eligible for federal programs, and it directs Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins and Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins to reduce interest rates on single-family home loans issued by their departments. The Hill reported that the order directs FHFA Director Bill Pulte to carry out its provisions, and that an interim final rule on appraisals and reconsideration of value was announced alongside it.

Trump signs executive order targeting mortgage and housing costs

Sources