What are President Trump’s priorities for housing in his second term? That’s the burning question for professionals in real estate, mortgage, title, appraisal and homebuilding — and the answer started to take shape on the president’s first day in office Monday.
The theme of Trump’s inaugural address was focused on making America great again, but there was nothing in the speech that was specific to housing. “From this moment on, it’s going to be America First. Every decision on trade, on taxes, on immigration, on foreign affairs, will be made to benefit American workers and American families,” the president said in his address.
Trump has pledged to sign up to 100 executive orders on his first day in office, which can be grouped into these categories:
- Immigration: 10 executive orders on border security and illegal immigration, including a national border emergency declaration
- DEI/ defining gender: Ending DEI programs in government, defining two sexes.
- Energy/Climate Change: Declaring a national emergency on energy, withdrawing from the Paris Accord.
- Inflation: No details were given on this set of executive orders.
- Miscellaneous (renaming the Gulf of Mexico, extending the deadline for the TikTok ban, etc.)
We’ll keep an eye on the specifics of those orders as they roll through today and this week, as some — like inflation initiatives — could directly affect housing. But Trump’s housing policies can also be seen in his picks for federal departments and regulatory agencies.
Trump is famously anti-regulation and has promised to look at every government agency and regulatory body to see where he can make cuts. Although it’s not yet an official federal department (and in fact is already facing a lawsuit because of its unofficial status), Trump has tasked billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk to head a Department on Government Efficiency (DOGE) to carry out this vision. And he has already signed an executive order to freeze government hiring. Here’s what his plan to reshape those agencies looks like so far.
HUD
HUD was identified in the Project 2025 presidential transition project as an agency targeted for massive budget cuts. The author of the HUD section was Trump’s former HUD Secretary Ben Carson, who wrote that HUD needed a “reset” which would include “a broad reversal of the Biden administration’s persistent implementation of corrosive progressive ideologies across the department’s programs.”
Trump’s nominee for HUD Secretary in this term is Scott Turner, who worked very closely with Carson in Trump’s first term. Turner is the former executive director of the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council (WHORC), a member of the America First Policy Institute, a former professional football player and a Texas state representative.
During Trump’s first term, Turner oversaw roughly $50 billion of private investment in opportunity zones. In his confirmation hearing last week, Turner emphasized that he would be looking very closely at the HUD budget to get rid of any inefficiencies.
FHFA Director
Trump announced his pick for FHFA director just last week: Bill Pulte. Pulte is the grandson of the late homebuilding icon William Pulte and is the founder of Pulte Capital Partners, which focuses on construction investments in “middle-market companies and lower-priority divisions of national companies,” according to the company’s website.
The FHFA is charged with supervision, regulation, and housing mission oversight of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Federal Home Loan Banks, to make sure they fulfill their mission to serve as a reliable source of liquidity and funding for housing finance and community investment. What the agency’s goals and priorities will be under Pulte is not yet clear. With his family ties to homebuilding, Pulte is seen as a “friend to the industry,” according to investment banker and author Chris Whalen in an interview with HousingWire.
The fate of the CFPB
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has been a Trump target since the last time he was in office. Ramping up the administration’s rhetoric this time around, Musk called for the CFPB to be “deleted” in November. That sentiment is apparently making it hard to find someone who wants Rohit Chopra’s job leading the bureau. The Financial Times reported that multiple “experienced candidates” have opted not to enter the selection process when reached about potentially serving in the role.
Trump’s pick to lead the CFPB in his first term, Kathy Kraninger, was supported by mortgage industry groups during her term and was picked to lead the Florida Bankers Association after she resigned as CFPB director when Biden won.
