Donald Trump took the oath of office yesterday, stepping into his second term as president of the United States, and despite a flurry of executive orders, much of his administration’s new agenda will take time to begin implementing—and could also face legal challenges.
In these first few days, what can Trump actually do that will affect housing? In a memo, Trump wrote that he was ordering “the heads of all executive departments and agencies” to “lower the cost of housing and expand housing supply,” among other things, without further details on what this will look like. Assistant to the President for Economic Policy Robin Colwell, a lobbyist and member of the first Trump administration, will report to Trump in 30 days on “the status of the implementation of this memorandum.”
Most of Trump’s day one executive orders have little to do with housing directly—though mass deportation and anti-immigration policies will certainly affect real estate markets in the long run.
One executive order that did not receive as much attention was Trump’s “regulatory freeze.” In it, Trump forbade all agencies and executive departments—which include the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the Federal Housing Finance Authority (FHFA), the Veterans Administration (VA) and many others with power over housing—from proposing new rules until one of his appointees can review it.
Additionally, Trump reserved the right to delay the implementation of rules already approved by 60 days (or more), and potentially allow comments or revaluations of “petitions” related to those rules.
While a number of federal agencies—including HUD—withdrew rules in the wake of Trump’s victory, most notably a high-profile fair housing reform, other housing-related regulations either being considered or ready to be implemented in the coming days or weeks could now be up in the air.
Here are some housing rules and regulations the Trump administration may be reconsidering or delaying:
HOME Investment Partnerships Program updates
Set to take effect on February 5, the rule represents a tweak to the formula which provides grants to state and local governments to produce and maintain affordable housing. Allocating approximately $1.5 billion a year supporting over 237,000 units, the program is one of the federal government’s largest direct contributions to affordable housing around the country.
The proposed modifications were first published in May, and focus on requirements around community-based nonprofit organizations which participate in the program, as well as “simplified” requirements and “flexibility” for community land trusts. The rules also include incentives for “green building standards,” something that Trump has explicitly pushed back against.
Automated valuation models (AVMs)
A priority of former Vice President Kamala Harris, this rule is not set to go into effect until October 1 of this year, giving Trump plenty of time to review it. The rule has potentially far-reaching consequences for real estate, with Bright MLS, Zillow, the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) and others previously weighing in on the new regulations.
The new regulations, jointly proposed by several agencies including the FHFA and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (a frequent target of Trump’s criticism), are focused on how mortgage lenders use AVMs, rather than consumer-facing models like the “Zestimate” touted by Zillow. Broadly, the new rule would require lenders to ensure certain standards for the AVMs used in making lending decisions. It would also focus on preventing the kind of racial bias that has long been a part of the lending industry.
Trump has broadly pushed back against these types of initiatives, including shelving investigations into redlining during his first administration.
FHFA enterprise housing goals
Trump has made no secret that he would like to see the GSEs—that is, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae—removed from the government conservatorship they entered in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. What that would actually look like is complicated and somewhat unprecedented—Trump tried to end the conservatorship in his first term but was unsuccessful.
But with some steps already taken, the second Trump administration could make the GSEs a larger priority. Goals set for the GSEs by the FHFA—first published in August, and set to go into effect February 28—may end up being irrelevant if Trump is successful. Whether he would need to amend or undo the currently set goals—which focus mostly on setting targets for mortgage purchases in different income or housing types—is unclear.
Commissions and VA loans
After the NAR settlement, members of the real estate community quickly focused on the issue of VA borrowers, who based on previous rules would not be allowed to pay for their own agents commission.
The agency issued guidance back in May clarifying that VA buyers could pay agent commissions, but promised to implement a more formal rule—without a timeline for when that would happen.
Based on Trump’s regulatory freeze, that clarity won’t come until his nominee to lead the VA (former representative Doug Collins, an Air Force Reserve chaplain) is confirmed. Collins faced a confirmation hearing in the Senate earlier this week.
Updated manufactured home safety standards
Set to go into effect March 17, this HUD rule updates several definitions and requirements for safety in manufactured homes, which the previous administration had highlighted as a pathway to address affordability in the housing market. Among the changes are new requirements for testing fire sprinkler systems and how rooms are defined in manufactured homes.
Trump has generally opposed regulations around housing construction—though in this case the bulk of the regulations appear to have already been implemented, with the update including mostly “minor” revisions.
