Affordability, investors and rates took center stage as Trump framed a new housing agenda
President Donald Trump used his State of the Union address to promise a housing market that would be “affordable again” for first‑time buyers while preserving the paper wealth of existing homeowners – a balancing act that has become central to his re‑election pitch.
Framing the affordability crunch as a “Biden‑created” problem, Trump argued that falling mortgage rates would do much of the work.
He said the annual cost of a typical new mortgage was “down almost $5,000 since I took office” and that lower rates would solve the housing problem “while at the same time protecting the values of those people who already own a house that really feel rich for the first time in their lives.”
“Low interest rates will help reduce the ‘Biden‑created’ housing affordability crunch,” Trump said, adding: “We want to protect those values. We want to keep those values up. We’re going to do both.”
Freddie Mac data showed the average 30‑year fixed mortgage rate peaked around 7% in early 2025 and hovered near 6% in recent weeks, implying meaningful but more modest payment relief than Trump’s $5,000 figure – closer to $3,000 a year on a median‑priced home.
Trump presses institutional investor ban
Another focal point was his new executive order discouraging large Wall Street firms from buying single‑family homes and his push to make that ban permanent.
“Another pillar of the American dream that has been under attack is homeownership,” Trump said, introducing a Houston mother who he said had lost bids on 20 homes to “gigantic investment firms that bypassed inspection, paid all cash, and turned those houses into rentals, stealing away her American dream.”
“Now, I’m asking Congress to make that ban permanent because homes are for people, really. That’s what we want, not homes for corporations,” he said.
The move followed years of concern about investor competition. Investors accounted for more than a quarter of US home purchases by 2025, though truly institutional players still owned only a small fraction of the nation’s single‑family stock, with most rentals held by smaller landlords. Analysts have warned that because large institutions control a limited share of inventory, an outright ban may have a localized rather than systemic impact.
Industry urges focus on supply, not just demand
Shannon McGahn, chief advocacy officer at the National Association of Realtors, noted that 85% of Americans still viewed homeownership as “an essential part of the American dream,” but that unlocking supply would require “streamlining regulatory barriers, incentivizing new construction, and supporting responsible development,” including reforms to tax rules that discourage longtime owners from selling.
Realtor.com economist Jake Krimmel, whose analysis the White House cited, said four years of elevated rates layered on a chronic shortage made affordability “a central focus for national policymakers” – yet housing occupied only a brief segment of Trump’s broader cost‑of‑living message.
He pointed out that rents have been drifting lower and that construction employment gains were closer to 44,000 jobs over the past year, not the 70,000 Trump referenced, and that typical mortgage savings were likely below the president’s $5,000 claim.
For lenders and brokers, the speech showed that housing affordability is now a core national issue. But unless rates fall further and policymakers get serious about boosting supply, Trump’s promises on homeownership are still running ahead of the concrete plans needed to make them real.
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