President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday aimed at lowering the costs tied to homeownership, including mortgage insurance, title insurance and refinancing. The order directs federal housing officials to move on a pilot program that could help some homeowners cut their monthly housing burdens and close loans with fewer fees.
The immediate draw for borrowers is the refinance piece. The order tells the Federal Housing Finance Agency to set up a pilot for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac that would use automated valuation models to check home values and cancel mortgage insurance for borrowers who have met the required equity threshold. It also pushes the agency to widen the use of automated title reviews and to waive appraisals and documentation requirements for certain refinances, with the goal of passing all savings directly to borrowers.
That is why the order is getting attention now. Homeowners have been squeezed by high interest rates, inflation and mortgage rates that are expected to stay near decade highs for now. Trump framed the move as part of a broader effort to reduce barriers to mortgage origination and costs that stand in the way of homeownership, while also promoting more affordable manufactured housing. He said he wanted new technologies, including artificial intelligence, to speed up the housing market.
The administration is also leaning on a housing plan that overlaps with this effort, even after Trump declined to sign the 21st Century Road to Housing Act. That law still included a pilot program for federal housing agencies to cancel excessive mortgage insurance for select borrowers who appear to meet equity and other requirements, along with a task force on manufactured housing innovation. The new executive order follows the same direction, but this time it puts the machinery of the executive branch behind it.
Shannon McGahn responded to the latest move by saying, “We appreciate the President’s continued focus on this critical” issue, a short statement that captured the industry’s hope that the order will translate into real savings. What is still unclear is how much borrowers will actually save, and how quickly the FHFA can get the pilot and expanded title-review programs in place. If the agency moves fast, the payoff could reach thousands of homeowners and, eventually, millions of Americans carrying the cost of refinancing or mortgage insurance.
