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U.S. mortgage rates have fallen sharply following President Donald Trump\u2019s order to purchase $200 billion in mortgage bonds \u2014 a sweeping intervention aimed at lowering borrowing costs and easing the affordability crunch.<\/p>\n
With housing costs getting top billing, Trump said he\u2019s \u201cgiving special attention\u201d to the market (1).<\/p>\n
\u201cI am instructing my Representatives to BUY $200 BILLION DOLLARS IN MORTGAGE BONDS. This will drive Mortgage Rates DOWN, monthly payments DOWN and make the cost of owning a home more affordable,\u201d he wrote in a Truth Social post on Jan. 8, calling it one of \u201cmany steps\u201d he plans to take to restore affordability across the country.<\/p>\n
Later that day, Federal Housing Finance Agency director Bill Pulte confirmed on X that \u201cFannie [Mae] and Freddie [Mac] are the entities that will do the purchases (2).\u201d<\/p>\n
The plan moved immediately. On Friday, Pulte told reporters at the White House, \u201cWe put in a $3 billion buy already.\u201d<\/p>\n
And markets reacted. The average interest rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage slid to 5.99% the morning of Jan. 9, down from 6.21% the day before \u2014 a striking 22-basis-point drop, according to Mortgage News Daily (3).<\/p>\n
That marks the lowest level for the 30-year average rate since February 2023.<\/p>\n
Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions. As Pulte explained, \u201cWhat will happen is, as mortgage bond prices go up, interest rates theoretically go down. It\u2019s a very, very big opportunity for the housing market and for all Americans aspiring to get that American dream (4).\u201d<\/p>\n
Lower rates typically translate into lower monthly payments \u2014 improving affordability for homebuyers.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s important to note that whether rates are rising or falling, shopping around is still one of the easiest ways to save. If you’re in the market for a mortgage, try to make time to look at your options with a variety of providers.<\/p>\n
The $200 billion mortgage-bond order is only part of Trump\u2019s affordability push. It arrived just one day after he said he would ban large institutional investors<\/a> from buying single-family homes \u2014 arguing the American Dream of homeownership is \u201cincreasingly out of reach for far too many people.\u201d<\/p>\n Leer m\u00e1s <\/p>\n But not everyone believes these measures will meaningfully shift the fundamentals.<\/p>\n \u201cSimilar to our view on President Trump\u2019s post regarding a ban on institutional investors buying homes, we do not believe this initiative will have any significant impact on the housing market,\u201d JPMorgan Chase homebuilding analysts wrote in a note responding to the bond-buying plan (5).<\/p>\n Their reasoning is simple: \u201c$200 billion of mortgages accounts for only roughly 1.4% of the approximately $14.5 trillion mortgage market.\u201d<\/p>\n And the affordability gap remains wide. Realtor.com estimates that a typical U.S. household would need to earn about $118,530 annually to afford a median-priced home of $402,500 \u2014 more than 50% above today\u2019s median household income of roughly $77,700 (6).<\/p>\n The good news? You don\u2019t need to buy a home outright \u2014 or wait for Washington\u2019s next move \u2014 to start gaining exposure to the housing market.<\/p>\n Read More: Approaching retirement with no savings? Don\u2019t panic, you’re not alone. Here are 6 easy ways you can catch up (and fast)<\/a><\/p>\n Crowdfunding platforms like Arrived<\/a> have made it easier than ever for everyday investors to gain exposure to America\u2019s real estate market.<\/p>\n Backed by world class investors like Jeff Bezos, Arrived allows you to invest in shares of rental homes with as little as $100<\/a>, all without the hassle of mowing lawns, fixing leaky faucets or handling difficult tenants.<\/p>\n The process is simple: Browse a curated selection of homes that have been vetted for their appreciation and income potential. Once you find a property you like, select the number of shares you\u2019d like to purchase and then sit back as you start receiving any positive rental income distributions<\/a> from your investment.<\/p>\n Owning a rental property sounds great \u2014 until something goes wrong. One bounced check and your rental income disappears.<\/p>\n But institutional investors don\u2019t face that problem. Their portfolios are diversified across hundreds \u2014 sometimes thousands \u2014 of units.<\/p>\n Now, accredited investors can tap into that same approach through platforms such as Lightstone DIRECT<\/a>, giving you access to institutional-quality multifamily and industrial real estate \u2014 with a minimum investment of $100,000.<\/p>\n Founded in 1986 by David Lichtenstein, Lightstone Group is one of the largest privately held real estate investment firms in the U.S., with more than $12 billion in assets under management.<\/p>\n Over nearly-four decades, their team has delivered strong, risk-adjusted performance across multiple market cycles \u2014 including a 27.5% historical net IRR and a 2.49x historical net equity multiple on realized investments since 2004.<\/p>\n With Lightstone DIRECT, you gain access to that proprietary deal flow<\/a>.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s the kicker: Lightstone invests at least 20% of its own capital in every deal<\/a> \u2014 roughly four times the industry average. With skin in the game, the firm ensures its interests are directly aligned with those of its investors.<\/p>\n Another option is mogul, a real estate investment platform offering fractional ownership in blue-chip rental properties<\/a>, which gives investors monthly rental income, real-time appreciation and tax benefits \u2014 without the need for a hefty down payment or 3 a.m. tenant calls.<\/p>\n Founded by former Goldman Sachs real estate investors, the team hand-picks the top 1% of single-family rental homes nationwide<\/a> for you. In other words, you gain access to institutional-quality offerings for a fraction of the usual cost.<\/p>\n Each property undergoes a rigorous vetting process, requiring a minimum 12% return even in downside scenarios. Across the board, the platform features an average annual IRR of 18.8%. Offerings often sell out in under three hours<\/a>, with investments typically ranging between $15,000 and $40,000 per property.<\/p>\n You can sign up for an account and then browse available properties here<\/a>.<\/p>\n We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our editorial ethics and guidelines<\/a>.<\/p>\n @realDonaldTrump (1<\/a>); @pulte (2<\/a>); @ForbesBreakingNews (3<\/a>); Politico (4<\/a>); NBC News (5<\/a>); Realtor.com (6<\/a>)<\/p>\n This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty Images Moneywise and Yahoo Finance LLC may earn commission or revenue through links in the content below.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":408024,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[12832,65872,28,155,12,101,54234,5456,25743,1168,196237,196238,5412],"class_list":["post-408023","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy","tag-affordability","tag-bill-pulte","tag-business","tag-dave-ramsey","tag-donald-trump","tag-economy","tag-federal-housing-finance-agency","tag-housing-market","tag-institutional-investors","tag-jeff-bezos","tag-mortgage-bond","tag-mortgage-bonds","tag-mortgage-rates"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/408023","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=408023"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/408023\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/408024"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=408023"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=408023"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=408023"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}