On October 22, 2026, President Trump issued an executive order that directs various agencies of the Government to develop new policies and programs with the stated intention of lowering the cost of home ownership. The Order outlines several measures intended to address these costs, including the following:
Automatic Removal of Private Mortgage Insurance
The Order directs Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to develop pilot programs for new loans that provide for the automatic cancellation of private mortgage insurance (PMI). Cancellation would be based on periodic evaluations of the collateral’s current fair market value using “automated valuation models and other data.”
Lenders typically require PMI when the amount of the loan exceeds 80% of the value of the collateral at the time of origination, because these loans go into default at greater rates than other loans. The insurance is intended to offset any loss the lender might suffer if it is forced to foreclose on the property. The borrower bears the cost of the insurance, which is collected as a portion of the monthly mortgage payment.
Current federal guidelines dictate that the lender must remove PMI from a loan once the scheduled payments cause the loan to value ratio to fall under a certain threshold, but this determination is generally calculated based on the schedule of payments and the value of the property at origination.
The Executive Order seems to contemplate using algorithm-based computer modeling of property values to assess the real time loan to value ratio at certain points of time1. In markets where property values are increasing, regular assessments of property values should shorten the period where borrowers have to beat the cost of PMI. However, the necessary tradeoff of such a policy would be a shift of risk to Fannie and Freddie. The consistency and reliability of automated property valuation tools are still uncertain. Perhaps more importantly, those that remember past real estate market crashes know that property values are capable of depreciating rapidly. When Fannie and Freddie sustain losses (and sometimes private lenders) that tends to come out of the pockets of the taxpayer.
Standardization of Manufactured and Modular Housing Permitting and Financing
The Executive Order next mandates the creation of a “Task Force on Manufactured Housing Innovation” for the purpose of arriving at unified federal regulations and standards for mobile and modular homes that will be consistent across all government agencies. The Order also contemplates that the task force work towards a single standard for underwriting federal-backed loans on such housing. The task force is also tasked with incentivizing state governments to adopt uniform standards in this same realm. The goal seems to be to promote and encourage all forms of factory constructed housing in an attempt to make the growing industry more commercially viable and friendly to the consumer.
Expanding Existing Pilot Programs Allowing Alternatives to Title Insurance on Refinances
The Executive Order specifically authorizes the Director of the FHFA, which oversees Fannie and Freddie, to expand and make permanent existing pilot programs that allow substitutes for title insurance policies on refinance transactions. This blog previously discussed Attorney Opinion Letters as one such alternative. Notably, the current order specifically references the possibility of accepting an “automated title review” as another alternative to a title insurance policy. The language of the Order reveals the Administration’s possible receptiveness to title reviews and opinions to be carried out by artificial intelligence. While the Executive Order itself does not change any existing standards, the direction to the FHFA seems pretty clear.
In addition to the provisions concerning title insurance, this section of the Order also instructs the Director to consider waiving appraisals, income verification, and certain fees for some types of cash out refinances.
Reduction of Interest Rates on VA and USDA Loans
The Executive Order finally directs the VA and USDA to lower interest rates on certain loans that it issues directly to borrowers. The most straightforward of all the provisions of the Order, the reduction of interest rates undoubtedly would be the most impactful in reducing the overall cost to the borrower. Unfortunately, the pool of VA and USDA direct to consumer loans is unlikely to make a significant impact in overall market costs and availability.
The executive order sets the direction, but it does not by itself rewrite the rules of the market. The details will come from FHFA, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the other federal agencies charged with carrying it out.
If these initiatives move forward, real estate professionals would eventually see meaningful changes in three places: how quickly homeowners can shed mortgage insurance, how streamlined a refinance can become, and how easily manufactured and modular housing can move through the approval and financing process.
Those changes won’t happen overnight. But they are certainly worth keeping an eye on.
1Zillow is an example of a consumer based valuation tool in this space, but there are many other products in this space.
