BY MIRABEL ODETA
President Donald Trump on Friday signed two executive orders aimed at improving Americans’ access to homeownership by cutting regulatory barriers and increasing mortgage availability.
“Every American seeking to buy a home should have access to a mortgage from a reliable lender, at a rate commensurate with his or her creditworthiness,” Trump stated in the order titled Promoting Access to Mortgage Credit. He noted that layers of unnecessary regulations, slow permitting processes, and burdensome mandates have delayed construction, limited development, and driven up housing costs.
The directive seeks to reduce compliance costs stemming from legislative actions over the past two decades. “These burdens have contributed to a significant decline in bank participation in mortgage lending,” the order read.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is instructed to propose amendments to rules that currently restrict community banks and other small lenders from issuing mortgages. According to the order, rural families and low- to moderate-income households have been the most affected.
Federal financial agencies, including the Federal Reserve, the National Credit Union Administration, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and the Comptroller of the Currency, are directed to ensure mortgage lending evaluations are merit-based. Examiners are instructed to focus on applicants’ ability to repay rather than strict compliance with procedural requirements.
Other modernization measures include reviewing data collection and disclosure provisions under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act, revising lenders’ capital requirements, exempting small residential projects up to four-family developments from commercial real estate regulations, and allowing alternative property valuation methods, including AI-generated estimates.
Trump also signed an order targeting federal construction regulations to encourage more homebuilding. “The American dream of homeownership depends on a dynamic housing market in which a varied inventory of new homes is built and renovated each year,” he said, emphasizing that unnecessary red tape limits supply and raises costs.
Secretary of the Army Daniel Driscoll and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin are directed to review construction regulations near bodies of water to lower costs, accelerate approval timelines, and reduce property tax burdens. The order also aims to fast-track federal permitting for residential construction.
Scott Turner, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, is tasked with creating best practices for affordable housing that states and cities can adopt. Measures include capping fees, speeding inspections and dispute resolution, and eliminating restrictive energy requirements. The order also encourages homebuilding and financing in Opportunity Zones, which were created to spur development in distressed communities.
The move comes amid a nationwide housing shortage, with home prices and rents rising. The average U.S. home now costs about $430,000, up roughly 1 percent from last year, according to Redfin. Mortgage rates, currently near 6.11 percent, are keeping some homeowners from selling and purchasing new homes.
Trump has previously pledged to expand housing access, including issuing an executive order in January to prevent Wall Street from competing with Main Street homebuyers and directing $200 billion in purchases of mortgage-backed securities through Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
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