Federal Housing Director Bill Pulte Said Friday that the Trump administration is moving past its proposal for 50-year mortgages, a widely criticized idea put forward in the administration’s broader effort to address housing affordability.
“I think we have other priorities,” Pulte said when asked by reporters if 50-year mortgages are still on the table.
President Donald Trump floated other policy proposals aimed at addressing the cost of home-buying. Trump said he would share more affordability measures during the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, later this month. The administration said it is drafting an executive order targeted at affordability issues that are weighing on voters’ minds heading into a midterm election year.
Politico said that Pulte’s comment indicates that the 50-year mortgages idea, which was panned by officials in the White House as well as industry experts, won’t be among the actions in Trump’s order. Politico reported that Pulte originally brought the proposal to Trump.
On Friday, Pulte said the president is reviewing a list of 30 to 50 home-cost solutions from himself and other top administration officials — including Vice President JD Vance, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Scott Turner, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett.
Freddie, Fannie Are Buying Mortgage Bonds
Pulte said Fannie and Freddie, the government-sponsored mortgage entities which his agency oversees, have started carrying out Trump’s order last week to buy $200 billion in mortgage bonds in an effort to lower home loan rates, starting with a $3 billion buy.
Mortgage bonds are composed of home loans that Fannie and Freddie, as well as private financial institutions, buy and package into securities that are bought and sold by investors.
Fannie and Freddie can buy back those mortgage-backed securities from the public market. The government-controlled entities were bailed out by the Treasury Department and placed under government conservatorship after they faced massive losses from defaulting sub-prime mortgages as a result of the 2008 financial crisis.
Pulte pushed back against concerns that Fannie and Freddie might not be properly insulated against the risks posed by increasing their portfolio of mortgage-backed securities.
“The mortgages that we’re underwriting are not like they were in 2008, and so we feel very confident in our liquidity position,” Pulte said. “I think that Fannie and Freddie have way more liquidity than we know what to do with.”
