An executive order titled “Decreasing Housing Costs for the American People” aims to help homebuyers stop paying mortgage insurance sooner and make refinancing cheaper, but it does not cut mortgage interest rates. FHFA director Bill Pulte claimed on X that millions of Americans would save thousands of dollars, while Keith Gumbinger of HSH cautioned that the impact is hard to gauge without implementation details. The insurance-cancellation pilot covers only mortgages originated after its launch, so existing borrowers would not automatically benefit. The average 30-year fixed rate was 7.32% on October 23 according to Freddie Mac, a market movement rather than a cut mandated by Trump, and refinancing demand fell 59% in mid-October from the same week last year.
Summary written by Upside AI from the original article. Read the source for full details.
Read the original on livemint.com ↗
Keywords
mortgagesinterest rateshousingDonald Trump
Open a keyword to see other news on the same topic.
Related tickers and likely impact
SPY
• NeutralSPDR S&P 500 ETF
Relevance: low
| Market | US stocks |
|---|---|
| Sector | ETF |
| Close on 10/23/2026 | 759.85 |
| Change that session | -0.54% |
Impact is scored by AI from the headline and may be wrong. It is not investment advice.
Related news
- Trump's executive order targets mortgage insurance, refinance costs. What it means for borrowers
President Donald Trump signed an executive order, “Decreasing Housing Costs for the American People,” to lower mortgage costs as rising interest rates and inflation weigh on homeownership. It directs federal agencies to proactively cancel mortgage insurance on eligible future loans once home equity reaches a set threshold, and to make a refinancing cost-reduction program permanent. Freddie Mac data show 30-year fixed-rate mortgages at 7.32% as of Oct. 23, while refinance demand was down 59% in mid-October from a year earlier. Keith Gumbinger of HSH said it is difficult to gauge the consumer impact without more details, and that the refinancing change is not necessarily a game-changer given that home prices and mortgage rates dictate costs. The order comes less than two weeks before the Nov. 3 midterm elections.
- Trump signs order aimed at reducing single - family housing costs
President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday to reduce homeowners' costs through lower insurance premiums, refinancing expenses and interest rates on certain government-backed loans. It directs the Federal Housing Finance Agency to pilot cancelling mortgage insurance premiums for borrowers who meet equity requirements, makes permanent a waiver of title insurance requirements for refinancings, and creates a manufactured housing task force. The move comes as affordability becomes a political vulnerability for Republicans before the November midterms, after contracts to buy existing homes hit a record low in September. The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate reached 7.40% last week, its highest in about three years, before falling to 7.32% this week, according to Freddie Mac.
- Trump signs executive order geared at lowering housing , mortgage costs
President Trump signed an executive order aimed at lowering mortgage payments as elevated borrowing costs have weighed on the housing market. The order directs FHFA Director Bill Pulte to launch a pilot program canceling insurance premiums on government-backed mortgages once borrowers meet equity requirements, and to expand the title insurance waiver pilot into a permanent program. A task force was also created to cut home construction costs using modern manufacturing methods, while the agriculture and veterans affairs secretaries were ordered to lower interest rates on their departments' single-family home loans. The average 30-year mortgage rate, which rose above 7 percent amid the Iran war, fell from 7.4 percent to 7.32 percent according to Freddie Mac, while pending home sales dropped 7.3 percent from August to September and 11.3 percent year over year, per NAR.
- Existing home sales collapse to record low
The opinion piece argues that US existing home sales have collapsed, with the National Association of Realtors’ Pending Home Sales Index falling to 66.0, its lowest level since the series began in 2001. It contrasts this with Trump’s 2024 pledges of gasoline below $2 a gallon and 2% mortgage rates, noting gasoline now costs $4.28 a gallon and the average mortgage rate is 7.4%. Using a $423,000 median-priced house and a $370,000 loan, the author calculates a monthly principal-and-interest payment of $1,766 at 4.0% versus $2,562 at 7.4%, an extra $796 per month. Over 30 years, the additional total cost is put at $286,333.
- Trump signs executive order lowering housing costs
President Trump signed an executive order on Thursday aimed at lowering housing costs ahead of the midterm elections, where inflation and affordability are top voter concerns. The order directs agencies to reduce mortgage costs, offer cheaper alternatives to title insurance and support manufactured housing. The Federal Housing Finance Agency is to create a pilot program to proactively cancel mortgage insurance premiums for borrowers who meet equity requirements, while the Departments of Veterans Affairs and Agriculture must cut rates on single-family home loans, and a multiagency task force will work to lower the cost of building manufactured homes. The move comes as the housing market slows and lending costs rise, with inflation climbing to 3.7% last month while wage gains have been largely flat.
- Trump signs executive order lowering housing costs
President Trump signed an executive order on Thursday aimed at lowering housing costs ahead of the midterm elections, where inflation and affordability are voters’ main concerns. It directs agencies to reduce mortgage costs, offer cheaper alternatives to title insurance and support manufactured housing. The Federal Housing Finance Agency must create a pilot program to cancel mortgage insurance premiums for borrowers who meet equity requirements based on current market value, while the Departments of Veterans Affairs and Agriculture must cut interest rates on their single-family home loans. The White House said unnecessary regulations and outdated mortgage processes have driven up closing costs. The order comes as the housing market slows and lending costs rise, with inflation at 3.7% last month and 31% of U.S. adults naming the economy as their top concern in an NBC News Decision Desk poll.
Related markets
Latest news
- Tanker carrying 43,000 tonnes of Russian oil sends very good news to US
A tanker carrying nearly 43,000 tonnes of ultra-low sulphur diesel left Russia's Primorsk port on October 22 and has repeatedly signalled New York as its destination, with arrival expected on November 7. If completed, it would be the first Russian refined fuel cargo to reach the US since imports nearly stopped after the Ukraine conflict began in 2022, though the signalled destination could change. The shipment comes about two weeks after Trump and Putin agreed to return Russian diesel to international markets, as Washington seeks more supply before the November 3 midterm elections amid rising fuel prices. The US Treasury granted a special licence allowing Russian diesel into the country until April next year, and Trump said Russia would release over 300,000 tonnes immediately, about 500,000 tonnes in November and 2 million tonnes later. Critics, including some lawmakers, argue the deal could give Moscow extra revenue during the Ukraine war and question whether the released volumes are large enough to significantly lower fuel prices.
- European and Middle Eastern foreign ministers urge restraint at Istanbul talks
Foreign ministers from the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Egypt met in Istanbul on Friday and urged restraint amid fears of renewed US-Israeli strikes on Iran and Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia. Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said military intervention was not a solution, and the ministers agreed to tell all parties that diplomacy must prevail. The group will meet regularly to address a lasting resolution of Iran's actions and to ensure freedom of navigation in Hormuz, the Red Sea and the Black Sea, where suspected Russian drone attacks have struck ships near Bulgaria and Romania. The US and Israel have reportedly discussed a major new military operation against Iran, though President Donald Trump said he would not strike again before the November 3 midterm elections. Iran has vowed a wider response to any new attack, while the US continues its military blockade of Iranian seaports.
- Google project in Finland halted after 250 , 000 trees were cut for AI data centers before environmental review
Finnish regulator LVV has ordered Google's subsidiary Tuike Finland Oy to halt major preparatory work at its Muhos and Otanmäki AI data centre sites until environmental impact assessments are completed. Roughly 330 hectares of forest were cleared at Muhos, where about 250,000 trees were felled, and nearly 200 hectares were logged at Otanmäki before the assessments were finished. Google apologized, said it "fell short of our own high standards", and proposed biodiversity measures including replanting about 130 hectares at Muhos. Residents and environmental groups cite muddy runoff and lasting ecological damage, and a petition for stricter data centre rules has gathered more than 93,000 signatures.
- Franklin Templeton adds $150 million in fund shares to XRP Ledger, all in one wallet
Franklin Templeton added about $150 million worth of shares in its tokenized money market fund, sgBENJI, to the XRP Ledger, and all the new shares went to a single wallet. That wallet now holds nearly 193 million shares, up from about 48 million, worth roughly $200 million at the $1.039 share price recorded in the transactions. The wallet and Franklin's issuing account share the same eight signing addresses, and Franklin can approve, freeze or recover the fund's tokens on the network. It is unclear whether the wallet represents one investor or several clients, and as of Saturday morning Asia time Franklin had not responded to CoinDesk's questions. RWA.xyz ranks Franklin second among tokenized asset platforms on the XRP Ledger, behind Ripple's RLUSD stablecoin.
- Vietnam's production plant ranked world's second largest, featuring ultra-modern technology
The Sóc Sơn waste-to-energy plant in Hanoi began construction in August 2019, started receiving waste in May 2022, and was inaugurated in October 2025. With a daily intake capacity of 5,000 tons and power output of 90 MW/hour, it is described as the largest in Vietnam, the world's second largest after the Shenzhen plant in China, and the largest in Southeast Asia. The plant uses Belgian Waterleau mechanical grate incinerator technology, and heat from burning waste produces steam that drives turbines to generate electricity fed into the national grid. Under its environmental permit, the plant must halt relevant discharges if pollution, noise or vibration exceed limits, and must continuously transmit wastewater monitoring data to Hanoi's environmental authority. The article notes Hanoi generates about 7,600 tons of household waste daily and has buried over 30 million tons since 1999.
- Prime Minister Le Minh Hung requests at least a 30% further cut in public investment projects, concentrating capital on key projects with wide-reaching impact
Prime Minister Le Minh Hung said that in this term, the Central Government requires cutting public investment projects by at least 30% further, after the previous term saw about 5,000 projects nationwide, to concentrate resources on projects with broad impact. Investment efficiency should be assessed across the full project lifecycle, covering social benefits and contributions to infrastructure, living standards and social security, with priority for poverty reduction, support for ethnic minority and disadvantaged areas, national defense and security, health, education and culture. The draft amended public investment law proposes dropping the separate investment policy approval step for Group C projects, which made up over 60% of projects in the recent period, and integrating those contents into the investment decision step, while Group A, Group B and nationally important projects would still require that step. The Prime Minister also stressed the leading role of the central budget and that simplifying procedures must go hand in hand with strict control.
Get the briefing on Telegram or Zalo
Join the Upside Telegram channel or Zalo group for the Vietnam stocks and gold briefing at 8:00 and 19:00 (Vietnam time) on trading days, plus a weekly wrap on Saturday morning.