Few things embody the American Dream more tangibly than owning a home.
But for millions of Americans, that dream has become an increasingly difficult financial proposition. Mortgage rates rose sharply beginning in 2022 during the Biden administration, exacerbating longstanding obstacles that had accumulated over decades, such as inadequate housing construction in many communities, restrictive zoning rules, and rising construction costs.
And for those fortunate enough to scrape together a down payment and qualify for a mortgage, the sale price is only part of the equation, and suddenly, they find themselves facing unexpected additional costs.
These are the less obvious expenses associated with buying and owning a home: mortgage insurance premiums, refinancing fees, appraisals, title insurance, and other costs that can add hundreds or even thousands of dollars to the price of homeownership.
President Donald Trump’s latest executive order, signed Thursday, October 22, takes aim at several of these expenses.
While housing affordability issues represent a broad and complicated challenge, the order is targeted, geared specifically toward reducing some of the overlooked fees, insurance costs, and regulatory hurdles that add to the expense of buying and owning a home.
It’s a narrow undertaking that could make a meaningful difference for borrowers.
Addressing mortgage insurance
Consider private mortgage insurance, commonly known as PMI.
Homebuyers who make down payments of less than 20 percent are often required to purchase this insurance, which protects the lender if the borrower defaults.
Under existing federal rules, qualifying borrowers can generally request cancellation when their mortgage balance reaches 80 percent of the property’s original value. Automatic cancellation generally occurs when the scheduled balance reaches 78 percent, provided certain conditions are met.
But what happens when a home’s value increases significantly before those milestones?
Some borrowers can already qualify for early cancellation based on appreciation, but navigating the process may require paperwork, property valuations, and requests to their mortgage servicers.
Trump’s order seeks to make that process easier.
The order calls on the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), subject to financial and legal safeguards, to establish a pilot program through Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac that would periodically assess borrowers’ equity using automated property valuations and other available information.
The pilot would apply to newly originated mortgages after the program begins. When borrowers meet the applicable requirements, their mortgage insurance could be canceled proactively, without requiring them to initiate the process.
Seems like a no-brainer.
Making refinancing less expensive
The order also targets a frequently overlooked expense associated with refinancing: lender’s title insurance.
This insurance protects a lender against certain problems with a property’s ownership history. Homeowners who refinance may be required to pay for a new lender’s policy, even though the property’s title was already examined when they originally purchased the home.
The administration wants to expand an existing federal pilot program that allows certain refinancing transactions to use automated title assessments instead of traditional lender’s title insurance.
The FHFA estimated in 2024 that its original pilot could save eligible refinancing borrowers between $500 and $1,500 in closing costs.
Trump’s order calls for expanding that approach nationwide through Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, while considering additional ways to reduce unnecessary appraisals, documentation requirements, and financing fees.
Crucially, it also calls for the resulting savings to be passed along to borrowers.
The order also seeks to lower borrowing costs through reductions in interest rates on certain housing loans issued directly by the departments of Agriculture and Veterans Affairs.
Building homes without unnecessary barriers (figuratively)
Perhaps the order’s most consequential long-term provision concerns manufactured and factory-built housing.
The administration is establishing a task force to identify ways to streamline inspections, certifications, permitting practices, and other requirements that can complicate the production of these homes.
Within 180 days, the task force must recommend reforms intended to encourage modern construction methods and eliminate duplicative federal requirements.
The potential benefits extend beyond paperwork.
Factory-built housing offers opportunities to standardize construction, reduce delays, and expand the supply of lower-cost homes. Yet complicated or overlapping requirements can undermine some of those advantages.
The larger regulatory burden is substantial.
A June 2026 analysis by the National Association of Home Builders estimates that regulatory costs add roughly $131,700 to the price of a new single-family home, representing more than a quarter of its average sales price.
Not all those regulations are unnecessary, and no executive order can eliminate every state or local obstacle to construction. But the figures illustrate how consequential the regulatory environment can be.
The latest initiative also builds on the administration’s March executive order directing federal agencies to reduce unnecessary barriers to residential development.
Taken together, the measures suggest an approach that recognizes housing affordability as both a financing problem and a construction problem.
A practical approach to affordability
America’s housing affordability challenges are complicated, but the administration’s latest initiative offers a targeted approach that could deliver meaningful savings for homeowners and help reduce barriers for prospective buyers.
By addressing unnecessary expenses, streamlining complicated processes, and encouraging more efficient home construction, the administration is pursuing reforms that could make homeownership more attainable and less costly.
And if these efforts deliver on their promise, they could do more than simplify paperwork and save Americans money. They could help more families achieve one of the most enduring aspirations of the American Dream: owning a place to call their own.