President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order directing federal agencies to cut mortgage and homeownership costs and pay more attention to manufactured housing. The order comes less than two weeks before Election Day, when many voters are heading to the polls with affordability concerns top of mind, and as the average rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage eased slightly to 7.32 percent from about 7.4 percent the week before.
“President Trump is removing unnecessary red tape and making homeownership more affordable for all Americans,” the White House wrote in a statement.
The order, “Decreasing Housing Costs for the American People,” directs the Federal Housing Finance Agency (F.H.F.A.) to proactively cancel mortgage-insurance premiums for borrowers who — after the order — meet equity requirements based on property values. The F.H.F.A. must extend its title-insurance waiver program, turning the pilot into a permanent program to cut refinance closing costs. The existing pilot was launched in 2024 and allows eligible refinance loans to go through without a lender’s title-insurance policy or an attorney opinion letter. The point, according to F.H.F.A., is to reduce out-of-pocket closing costs for buyers.
Additionally, the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Veterans Affairs have directives to lower interest rates on single-family-home loans they administer directly, and a new task force will recommend ways to streamline federal requirements and encourage modern manufactured housing and other eligible factory-built construction.
The Community Home Lenders of America welcomed the order, commending the provisions related to title insurance, manufactured housing, and veterans. The group is a national nonprofit advocacy association of small and mid-size community-based mortgage lenders with a stated mission of promoting federal mortgage rules that “treat community mortgage lenders fairly.” Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, an investment bank and broker-dealer, told HousingWire that it expects limited market impact because the directive has a narrow application, noting that refinances only account for about 7 percent of title premiums. The bank’s analysts said that because of the order’s relatively tight scope, they see it as “fairly benign for both mortgage and title insurers.”
Also on Thursday, the Treasury Department made moves to implement rules governing investor-owned housing as laid out in the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act. Specifically, the rule codifies a ban on investors who own 350 or more single-family homes from buying more while offering an exemption for new build-to-rent communities.
The stated goal is to give families a better shot at buying homes without insurmountable competition from large investment firms and to encourage construction. Treasury’s announcement last week is about proposing definitions and standards for exceptions to prepare the regulatory framework for the law, which will go into effect January 7, 2027.
California is a microcosm of the national market
Multifamily permits jump
California is building more apartments, which could help ameliorate its housing shortage. In the first eight months of 2026, the state approved permits for 36,600 multifamily housing units, up 33 percent from the same period in 2025. It is the state’s third-highest start to a year since 1990, and the pace is 12 percent above its 10-year average, Mercury News reports. Los Angeles and Orange County, where apartment permits surged 82 percent over the same period last year, are driving the increase. Construction of single-family homes, while slower than multifamily, has also increased over the past decade.
Those permits are a sign that developers and localities in California are taking supply seriously, but they do not, of course, guarantee that those projects will necessarily be completed, or when. Still, the growth is a national standout, as apartment construction has been slowing for years in much of the country after a wave of building in the early aughts left some markets with too much vacancy.
A fight over who controls homelessness response in L.A.
In June, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development suspended the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority from key federal responsibilities over money and systems used to address homelessness in Los Angeles, after the agency faced audits and allegations of financial mismanagement. Now, there is a fight between L.A. city and county officials over who should take over, LAist reports.
The county was recommended to assume all four responsibilities: applying for federal funding, conducting the annual count, managing the database of people receiving services, and operating the system that matches people with shelter. City officials have challenged the process on the grounds that L.A. city funds much of the region’s housing and should therefore have a meaningful say over how people living within its boundaries are served. The dispute has become so blown up that the city council explored legal action.
For now, a tentative compromise gives the city a larger role in the database and in matching but allows the county to take formal control. The regional group responsible for allocating these roles, L.A. Continuum of Care, is scheduled to vote on the remaining responsibilities on Monday at 3 p.m. P.D.T.
The region has upped its spending on homelessness services in recent years, but LAist reports that the documented unhoused population has grown by nearly 10 percent since 2020 both in the city and county. The central conversation is about accountability and whether transferring authority will improve results or shift bureaucratic responsibility without delivering better outcomes.
Davis voters debate the missing middle
In Davis, Calif., a proposed 1,250-home development is a central issue for voters who will decide on Measure W next Tuesday. In addition to homes — 250 of which will be affordable — the project adds parks, recreational facilities, and improvements to transportation, Davis Vanguard reports. It has received approval from the city council and planning commission, but final approval is ultimately up to voters.
Davis is expensive, and the city has built few new single-family homes in recent years, leading supporters to conclude that the additional housing options the project will provide, including townhomes and condominiums, will help ease costs for buyers.
The primary concern about the project is whether Davis can build enough homes through infill construction rather than by expanding onto farmland. The project is set to convert about 187 acres of agricultural land, with the developer having agreed to protect 374 acres of farmland elsewhere.
San Francisco’s record-breaking market
As Davis residents weigh missing-middle housing, a mansion in San Francisco, less than 100 miles west, was sold for $10 million above asking price. The $28 million Presidio Heights house set the city’s record for the largest dollar amount above asking, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
In the first six months of 2026, more than 140 homes in the city sold for at least $1 million above list price, the Chronicle reports. During the same period a year earlier, there were eight such cases.
Who’s helping?
Bloomberg’s bet
Bloomberg Philanthropies announced a new initiative earlier this month to help up to 30 cities across the country address the nation’s housing shortage by replicating successful local housing strategies. Participating cities will receive between $450,000 and $750,000 in funding, along with technical assistance and mentorship from cities that have demonstrated increased housing production — focusing on approaches from San Diego, Austin, and Atlanta — to streamline and digitalize building permits, expand accessory dwelling units (A.D.U.s), and create interagency housing strike teams to unlock stalled projects.
Omaha, Neb., is one of the first 14 cities selected for the initiative and will focus on expanding A.D.U. construction. This comes after the city amended its zoning code in 2024 to make such construction easier. Since then, fewer than 36 units have been built or approved, the Nebraska Examiner reports. City officials attribute the lack of growth to a lack of specialized builders and financing barriers. Through the program, Omaha plans to adapt and implement Austin’s model to explore construction methods, develop pre-approved building plans, and streamline permitting to at least double annual A.D.U. production.
In its press release, Bloomberg wrote that participating cities are expected to halve approval timelines, double A.D.U. pipelines, and show citywide supply gains within two years of receiving financial and technical support from the philanthropy.
Cleveland, Ohio, is also among the first cities participating in the initiative. Its participation comes amid a National Housing Conference report’s finding that Ohio “stands out as the largest loss of homeownership affordability in the nation between 2020-25.” The share of occupations that can afford a typical home with 10 percent down fell 40.97 percentage points in the state — the largest drop in the country.
Gen Z takes housing into their own hands
The housing affordability crisis is deepening everywhere as rent and home prices rise, mortgage rates remain high, and saving for a down payment becomes further out of reach, especially for the members of Generation Z who are approaching traditional first-time home-buying age, NPR reports. Compounding the issue are older homeowners who want to downsize but are scared off by today’s higher interest rates. In response, a growing number of young political candidates across the political spectrum are running midterm campaigns that center housing affordability.
Democratic candidates in Connecticut cited by NPR are advocating for mixed-income housing, denser development, and renter protections while making the argument that their personal experiences with housing insecurity have helped them understand and address the problem. Manny Rutinel, who is running for the U.S. House of Representatives in Colorado’s Eighth Congressional District, is making a similar case: He told me that his experience as one of the few renters in the Colorado Capitol, along with his upbringing in financial precarity, helps him understand the challenges his constituents face.
In Montana, a Republican state representative shares the goal of making housing more affordable, specifically through expanding opportunities for homeownership, NPR reports.
Read more in NPR about these candidates and the campaigns that demonstrate how the housing crisis is creating common ground across the aisle, as younger generations push for policies that make it possible for young people to build futures in their communities.
After the midterms, the work isn’t over. Read The Hill’s “What Democrats Would Do About Gen Z’s Housing Crisis if They Win Congress.”