Trump directs US$200 billion mortgage bond buy in housing push
The president’s advisers have repeatedly raised alarms that affordability has become a political albatross for the GOP
[WASHINGTON] US President Donald Trump said that he was directing the purchase of US$200 billion in mortgage bonds, which he cast as his latest effort to bring down housing costs ahead of the November midterm election.
Trump announced the move on Thursday (Jan 8) in a social media post. The director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, Bill Pulte, said soon after that the president aims for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mae to execute the purchases.
“This will drive mortgage rates down, monthly payments down, and make the cost of owning a home more affordable,” Trump wrote in his post.
He added that his decision not to sell Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac during his first term allowed them to amass “US$200 billion dollars in cash” and that he was making his announcement “because of that”.
“It is one of my many steps in restoring Affordability, something that the Biden Administration absolutely destroyed,” the president said. Mortgage backed securities rallied relative to Treasuries on the news.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have added billions of US dollars of mortgage-backed securities and home loans to their balance sheets in recent months, fuelling speculation that they are trying to push down lending rates and boost their profitability ahead of a potential public offering.
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The government-backed housing-finance giants increased their retained portfolios, the portion of bonds and loans they hold onto rather than sell to investors, by more than 25 per cent in the five months through October, according to recent figures.
Pulte said on Thursday that the bond purchases can be executed very quickly. “We have the capability, we have the cash to do it, and we are going to go about executing it very smartly and in a very big way”.
Trump on Wednesday said that he would move to ban institutional investors from buying single-family homes. The president’s advisers have repeatedly raised alarms that affordability has become a political albatross for the GOP and could cost the party control of Congress in the elections this fall. BLOOMBERG
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