President Donald Trump outlined four housing-related proposals at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, as part of a push to make homeownership more affordable for more Americans.
Trump said the administration is working on policies designed to lower interest rates on home loans and credit cards. “We can drop interest rates to a level, and that’s one thing we do want to do,” Trump said, adding that “the dropping of the interest rate” should mean borrowers “should be paying a much lower interest than we are.”
Trump also said he has directed the federal government to buy $200 billion in mortgage bonds, and pointed to a claim that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have $200 billion in cash that would be used for mortgage-bond purchases. The report said some economists have said such a move would likely have only a minimal impact on mortgage rates.
Beyond interest rates, Trump reiterated he is asking Congress to pass legislation that would cap credit card interest rates at 10% for one year. The article said the average rate on credit cards is around 21%, citing the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and noted Trump had previously urged the industry to implement a cap by Jan. 20.
The speech also included Trump’s stance on who buys single-family homes. Trump reiterated that he wants to block large institutional investors from buying single-family homes so that Americans do not have to compete with better-capitalized rivals. “Homes are built for people, not for corporations, and America will not become a nation of renters,” Trump said.
The article said Trump issued an executive order late Tuesday directing his administration to review laws governing how large institutional investors make large purchases of single-family homes and determine whether those investors are engaging in anti-competitive practices. It said the order exempts companies that build homes for rent, gives ordinary home shoppers an opportunity to buy foreclosed homes before investors do, and bars government housing agencies from guaranteeing, insuring or otherwise facilitating large institutional investors from buying single-family homes.
It was unclear, according to the report, how the administration will define a “large investor.” The article also said some metro areas—such as Atlanta and Phoenix—have a larger share of corporate-owned single-family homes for rent, but that most rental houses are owned by small individual investors, who the report said would not be barred from buying more homes.
The report included a response from Daryl Fairweather, chief economist at Redfin, who said, “It probably won’t make a noticeable impact on the housing market.” Trump, the article said, also sought to avoid actions that would tip the market too far in favor of buyers, arguing that measures to make homes cheaper to purchase could harm the value of existing homeowners’ equity, without specifying which policies would cause that outcome.
The article said the U.S. housing market has been in a sales slump dating back to 2022, when mortgage rates began rising from pandemic-era lows, contributing to affordability challenges for potential buyers. It said the average rate on a 30-year mortgage was 6.06% last week, according to Freddie Mac, and noted that mortgage rates did not necessarily fall after earlier Federal Reserve rate cuts. It also said the central bank cut its main rate for the first time in more than four years in fall 2024, after which mortgage rates rose and eventually crested above 7% in January.
Trump additionally reiterated that he will be announcing a new Federal Reserve chair soon to replace Jerome Powell, whose term is due to end in May. “I think they’ll do a very good job,” Trump said.
Although Trump was expected to provide more details about his housing policy in the speech, the article said he devoted much of his remarks to other topics. The report said Kevin Hassett, director of Trump’s National Economic Council, told Bloomberg that Trump was just “foreshadowing” an upcoming policy announcement, and that the White House is reportedly considering a new way for Americans with a 401(k) retirement savings plan to help fund the down payment on a home.