The US President wants the government to buy $200 billion in mortgage bonds to push mortgage rates down, in one of several measures focused on the housing market.
The President of the US has said that he is instructing officials to buy US$200 billion in mortgage bonds (approximately $298 billion) and moving to ban large institutional investors from buying single-family homes to make home ownership more affordable for individuals.
Taking to social media platform Truth Social, Donald Trump has made several announcements focused on the housing market.
On Thursday (8 January), the President said he would be introducing a range of housing and affordability proposals to help home buyers.
He said: “For a very long time, buying and owning a home was considered the pinnacle of the American Dream. It was the reward for working hard, and doing the right thing, but now… that American Dream is increasingly out of reach for far too many people, especially younger Americans.”
He suggested that the two companies set up by government to buy mortgages from lenders and issue mortgage-backed securities, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, were worth “an absolute fortune” and currently had $200 billion in cash.
“Because of this, I am instructing my representatives to buy $200 billion in mortgage bonds,” he wrote on Truth Social.
“This will drive mortgage rates down, monthly payments down, and make the cost of owning a home more affordable.
“It is one of my many steps in restoring affordability, something that the Biden administration absolutely destroyed. We are bringing back the American dream that was destroyed by the last administration. Make America great again.”
While it is unclear who will be purchasing the bonds, concerns have been raised that the executive branch is not able to order the central bank to undertake quantitative easing transactions.
Trump also revealed on Friday that he has asked Congress to step in to ban large institutional investors from buying more single-family homes.
The director of the US Federal Housing Finance Agency, Bill Pulte, has suggested that, in some cases, corporations were buying homes at 20–30 per cent less than some consumers are.
“We can’t be having this, where corporations are getting deals on homes. Meanwhile, people can’t even find shelter to live in... it’s just crazy," he told FOX Business.
Trump said: “I am immediately taking steps to ban large institutional investors from buying more single-family homes, and I will be calling on Congress to codify it.
“People live in homes, not corporations. I will discuss this topic, including further Housing and Affordability proposals, and more, at my speech in Davos in two weeks.”
What’s happening with mortgages in the US?
Mortgage applications for home purchases reached a three-year high in December 2025, as improved spreads kept rates near 6 per cent for 18 weeks.
Freddie Mac also reported on Thursday that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.16 per cent last week, showing minimal change from the previous week’s 6.15 per cent average.
This time last year, the 30-year rate averaged 6.93 per cent.
Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist, commented on Thursday: “In the first full week of the new year, mortgage rates remained within a narrow range, hovering close to the 6 per cent mark.
“The combination of solid economic growth and lower rates has led to improving momentum in for-sale residential demand, with purchase applications up over 20 per cent from a year ago.”
There has been a lot of activity with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in the past few days.
The moves come after the US Federal Housing Department issued a final rule that establishes new affordable housing goals for 2026–28, effective 23 February 2026.
These include reducing the benchmark levels for single-family housing goals for both low-income and very-low-income home purchases (from 25 per cent to 21 per cent and 6 per cent to 3.5 per cent, respectively) and introducing a 16 per cent benchmark for home purchase mortgages on single-family properties in low-income areas.
According to reports from US media, the federal housing finance agency suggested this was to better service the middle-class segment of the market.
There have also been reports from US Federal Housing Finance Agency director Pulte that the US President may look to sell a piece of the US mortgage agencies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in an initial public offering.
[Related: Non-banks fire up RMBS activity ahead of growth surge]
