Trump signs order to cut housing costs as mortgage rate stands at 7.32%
Key Facts
U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order aimed at lowering the costs of single-family homeownership and mortgage financing and encouraging housing innovation, according to a White House statement. The order directs the secretaries of agriculture and veterans affairs to lower interest rates on single-family home loans offered by their departments. The move comes as the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate stood at 7.32% on October 22, 2026, according to Freddie Mac. The average fell from 7.40% the previous week, the institution said. The new measures also target insurance costs associated with mortgages and refinancing, along with the cost of building homes eligible for federal programs.
On mortgage insurance, the order directs the Federal Housing Finance Agency to establish a pilot program to proactively cancel premiums when home equity requirements are met. The program uses the property's current market value to determine whether those requirements have been met, according to the White House. The statement described the directive as seeking to "proactively cancel mortgage insurance premiums for borrowers." Under existing rules, borrowers can request cancellation of private mortgage insurance when the loan's principal balance reaches 80% of the home's original value, according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. This requires a good payment history and a written cancellation request, along with evidence that the property's value has not declined.
The order also calls for making the title insurance waiver pilot program permanent and expanding its scope, according to the White House. The directive aims to provide lower-cost alternatives and reduce closing costs on refinancing transactions. The Federal Housing Finance Agency previously estimated potential savings of between 500 and 1500 dollars per borrower in a presentation of the pilot program. The agency said the program "could save homeowners seeking to refinance between 500 and 1500 dollars in closing costs." That estimate relates to waivers for certain refinancing transactions under the earlier pilot program.
On construction, the order establishes a manufactured housing innovation task force, according to the White House statement. Its mandate is to facilitate the use of modern manufacturing methods in homes eligible for federal programs, with the aim of improving quality and lowering construction costs. The step comes as the National Association of Home Builders attributed weak confidence to high mortgage rates and energy and material costs. The association added deteriorating labor and land conditions to the factors weighing on builder activity. In its housing starts report, the association also listed "persistent labor shortages" among the pressures facing residential construction.
The new measures follow earlier administration moves on financing rules and single-family homeownership. In March, an executive order directed the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to adapt mortgage rules to help smaller banks offer more affordable loans, according to the White House. This included updating mortgage-related regulatory and documentation requirements. In other earlier measures, the administration directed agencies to prevent relevant federal programs from supporting sales of single-family homes to institutional investors. The prohibition covered approving, insuring, guaranteeing, securitizing or facilitating those sales, according to a White House statement.
Industry indicators show a decline in builder sentiment and construction activity in the period before the new measures. The confidence index for builders of new single-family homes fell 3 points to 29 in October, according to the National Association of Home Builders. Total housing starts declined 5.2% in September from the previous month, according to the association's report. Starts reached a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.22 million units, in the report published on October 20, 2026. The U.S. Census Bureau is scheduled to publish new home sales data for September 2026 on October 27, 2026.