Market Pulse · November 2026

A New Executive Order Aims to Lower Mortgage Costs

On October 22, 2026, the White House signed an executive order titled “Decreasing Housing Costs for the American People.” It is aimed squarely at the cost of owning a home, and it touches several parts of the mortgage process at once. Before you get too excited or too skeptical, here is the honest framing: this order sets policy direction and asks federal agencies to build pilot programs. It is not a switch that lowers your payment overnight. With that in mind, here is what it actually proposes and what it could mean for you.

1. Canceling mortgage insurance sooner

If you put down less than 20 percent, you likely pay mortgage insurance until you build enough equity. The order directs the Federal Housing Finance Agency to have Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac pilot a program that periodically checks your home’s current value and proactively cancels mortgage insurance once you qualify, rather than waiting for you to request it. Because this runs through Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, it applies to conventional loans with borrower-paid mortgage insurance, not to FHA loans, whose mortgage insurance generally cannot be cancelled this way. It also asks them to notify borrowers when cancellation may be available and to cut unnecessary paperwork and appraisal costs. For homeowners whose values have risen, this could put money back in the monthly budget sooner.

2. Making refinances cheaper

This is the part that could matter most if rates ease. The order directs Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to expand a program that accepts an automated title review in place of a lender’s full title insurance policy on eligible refinances, which can lower closing costs. It also asks them to consider waiving appraisals and income re-verification on certain refinances that reduce your monthly payment, to remove geographic limits, and to trim or eliminate some of the fees the agencies charge. Importantly, the order says those savings should be passed through to borrowers. If this takes shape, a future refinance could cost less and close faster than one does today.

3. Lowering the cost of building homes

The order creates a task force on manufactured and factory-built housing, with a goal of using modern manufacturing methods to build quality homes faster and for less. It asks agencies to streamline duplicate reviews and encourage standardized permitting. This is a longer-term play that targets the supply side of the affordability problem. It will not change prices this year, but more homes built more efficiently is part of the bigger picture.

4. Lower rates on certain direct government loans

The order instructs the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Veterans Affairs to reduce the interest rates on home loans made directly by those departments, within the limits of the law and available funding. This is a narrower category than the VA-backed loans most veterans use through a lender, but for eligible borrowers in those direct programs it is a direct cost reduction.

What it means for you, honestly

The most useful takeaway is to treat this as a direction, not a discount you can bank on today. Each piece depends on agencies designing and launching the programs, and on your own file and qualification once they do. We think the refinance and mortgage-insurance pieces are the ones most likely to touch everyday homeowners, and we will be watching closely as the details are published. If you are weighing a move or a refinance now, the smart approach is unchanged: run your actual numbers on today’s terms, and we will flag it if one of these programs opens a door worth walking through later.

Common questions

What does Trump’s October 2026 executive order on housing actually do?

Executive Order 14438, signed October 22, 2026, directs the Federal Housing Finance Agency, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac to pilot proactive cancellation of mortgage insurance on conventional loans once a homeowner has enough equity, to make certain refinances cheaper by accepting automated title reviews in place of a full title insurance policy and reducing fees, to study lower-cost manufactured housing, and to reduce USDA and VA direct loan rates. These are directives and pilot programs, not immediate or guaranteed changes.

Will the executive order lower my mortgage payment right away?

Not automatically. The order sets policy direction and asks agencies to design pilot programs over the coming months. Any savings depend on how those programs are built and whether you qualify, so nothing is guaranteed today. It is best seen as an encouraging direction rather than a change you can count on right now.

How could the order reduce the cost of refinancing?

It directs Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to expand a program that can accept an automated title review in place of a lender’s full title insurance policy on eligible refinances, and to consider waiving appraisals and income re-verification for certain payment-reducing refinances and trimming fees, with the savings passed through to borrowers.