The Trump Administration on Monday issued a broad order to all federal agencies to develop and implement strategies that will “restore purchasing power to the American family and improve our quality of life.”
In the order, titled “Delivering Emergency Price Relief for American Families and Defeating the Cost-Of-Living Crisis,” the Administration directs the “heads of all executive departments and agencies to deliver emergency price relief, consistent with applicable law, to the American people and increase the prosperity of the American worker.”
That includes addressing the housing market’s current affordability problem. The order directs the appropriate agencies to “lower the cost of housing and expand housing supply.” This could be done in part by easing “regulatory requirements that alone account for 25% of the cost of contracting a new home according to recent analysis.”
Meanwhile, it is assumed the Trump Administration will also want to move forward with transitioning government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac out of conservatorship. Last month, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) and the U.S. Department of the Treasury announced that they had amended Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s Preferred Stock Purchase Agreements (PSPAs), taking an initial step that paves the way for that to happen.
However, such a transition will need to be handled cautiously, so as to not disrupt the housing finance market and further slow home sales.
Photo: René DeAnda
