Trump Signs Executive Order to Lower Mortgage Costs

President Trump on Thursday signed an executive order aimed at lowering mortgage payments, according to a report from The Hill. The order addresses the cost of home loans, which the report ties to borrowing conditions.

The Hill reported that the order is aimed at lowering mortgage payments at a time when "elevated borrowing costs have stifled the housing market." The report links the order to those costs, but the summary available for this story does not include direct statements from administration officials about its purpose.

According to The Hill, the order directs Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Director Bill Pulte to create a pilot program to cancel insurance premiums for government-backed mortgages. Under the directive, premiums would be canceled once a borrower has satisfied equity requirements. The summary does not describe those requirements or how many borrowers they would affect.

The Hill also reported that the order contains further provisions, but its summary breaks off at that point, so the remaining terms cannot be described from the available material. The report was written by Max Rego, and readers seeking the complete directives should consult the original article.

The Hill identified Pulte as the official whom the order directs to build the pilot program. The summary does not state a timetable for the program, a budget for it, or any estimate of how much it would reduce monthly payments.

The Hill's summary presents the pilot program in terms of insurance premiums on government-backed mortgages, and it ends before describing the other measures the president signed. No further details of the order appear in the material available for this story.

Sources: The Hill: Trump signs executive order geared at lowering housing, mortgage costs.