President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday directing federal housing agencies to pursue measures aimed at reducing mortgage and homeownership costs, including proactive mortgage insurance cancellation, lower refinancing expenses and reduced interest rates on certain government loans.
The order, titled “Decreasing Housing Costs for the American People,” also establishes a task force focused on manufactured housing and directs it to recommend ways to streamline federal requirements and encourage modern construction methods.
Rumors of an impending executive order circulated last week during the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Annual Convention & Expo in Chicago, where attendees expected Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte to discuss potential initiatives. But Pulte canceled his appearance to travel with Trump.
HousingWire reviewed a draft of the order ahead of its official release after obtaining it from three sources on Monday evening.
What’s in the order?
The White House said the order is intended to reduce regulatory barriers, lower closing costs, and promote innovation across the housing and mortgage markets.
“Unnecessary regulatory requirements for borrowers and outdated mortgage origination processes have driven up closing costs and made homeownership unaffordable,” the order states.
A fact sheet on the order was published Thursday and promoted on the White House’s X account, but a final draft of the order was absent from the White House website.
Per the fact sheet, the order directs the FHFA to create a pilot program to proactively cancel mortgage insurance premiums for borrowers who meet equity requirements based on current property values.
It also establishes a task force for improving the quality and lowering the cost of manufactured housing by promoting modern construction methods for factory-built homes eligible for federal housing programs.
To reduce refinancing costs, the order directs FHFA to expand its title insurance waiver pilot into a permanent program, allowing more borrowers to use alternatives to title insurance — potentially lowering closing costs and monthly homeownership expenses.
The order also directs the secretaries of the Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to reduce interest rates on single-family home loans made by their respective departments.
Industry reactions
Shortly after the order was announced, the Community Home Lenders of America (CHLA) commended the move, citing provisions to lower title insurance costs, improve manufactured housing affordability and reduce costs for veterans’ mortgages.
“These actions to reduce title insurance costs, promote manufactured home affordability, and reduce mortgage loan costs for veterans have long been CHLA priorities,” said Scott Olson, the group’s executive director.
Brendan McKay, broker-owner of McKay Mortgage Co. and the co-founder and chief advocacy officer for the Broker Action Coalition (BAC), also applauded the order.
“This is a big deal. Proactive mortgage insurance cancellation will keep real money back into families’ pockets every month, while streamlined refinances and expanded title insurance waivers could slash closing costs by thousands of dollars,” McKay said in a statement. “These reforms have the potential to dramatically expand refinancing opportunities when interest rates fall, delivering meaningful savings to millions of Americans.”
Others are unsure how the order will impact the overall market.
Keefe, Bruyette & Woods (KBW) analysts Bose George, Frankie Labetti and Graham Bundy wrote in an Oct. 21 research note that the order’s impact on mortgage companies and the broader market is likely to be limited.
“The EO would allow for significant expansion of the GSE title insurance pilot program. At the moment the program is only operational in a few regions and only applies to eligible refinances,” the note said. “Even if the program is expanded, we think the impact on title insurance earnings will be limited as long as it only applies to refinances, since refinances account for only around 7% of title premiums. However, if it can be broadened to the purchase market, there could be some risk.”
The analysts also said mortgage insurers could offset potential earnings pressure from increased mortgage insurance cancellations through stock buybacks. They noted that expanding the title insurance pilot to purchase loans could pose greater risks to title insurers, given the lack of scalable alternatives to traditional title insurance.
