Trump 2026: Housing Market Changes To Expect in Trump’s Second Year of His Second Term
Written by
Vance Cariaga
Edited by
Jenna Klaverweiden
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U.S. home prices have eased off from the highs they hit a few years ago, but they’re still not cheap. The median sales price was $410,800 during the 2025 second quarter, according to data from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. That was up from $327,100 at the start of the decade.
The National Association of Realtors expects average home prices to rise another 2% to 3% this year. President Donald Trump has made home affordability a major talking point. Here are three changes that could happen in 2026 as he enters the second year of his second term.
Have Fannie and Freddie Buy Mortgage Bonds
One way Trump aims to lower housing costs is by having Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac buy $200 billion worth of mortgage bonds. Trump announced the plan in a Jan. 8 Truth Social post, though the idea is certainly not novel.
As The Wall Street Journal reported, Fannie and Freddie used to buy up mortgage-backed securities regularly. At their peak, each company held more than $900 billion in these bonds.
But things changed during the 2008-2009 financial crisis, when problems in the subprime mortgage industry led to massive losses on the bonds. Today, Fannie and Freddie can hold up to $225 billion worth of mortgage-backed securities each. But as of November 2025, they held only a combined $247 billion, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Fannie and Freddie buy mortgages from banks and other lenders as a way of letting those lenders free up credit for other borrowers, USA Today reported. Fannie and Freddie then package the loans into bonds as a way of lessening the risk.
However, some experts question whether having them buy more mortgage bonds will lower borrowing and housing costs.
“If you want to lower rates, Treasury markets are the first stop. They are the basis for everything,” Phillip Basil, director of economic growth and financial stability at Better Markets, told USA Today. “The White House is pursuing the exact opposite of what they should be doing.”
50-Year Mortgage
Late last year, Trump floated the idea of a 50-year mortgage as a way to reduce monthly mortgage payments and make homeownership more affordable. He’s expected to keep pursuing the idea in 2026.
Payments on a 50-year mortgage would be lower than on a standard 30-year mortgage because the loans are spread over a much longer period of time. But some experts question how effective it will be.
One problem is that most homeowners won’t reach the age when they can pay off a 50-year mortgage. Even if they do, they could find themselves in dire financial straits, according to Michael Micheletti, chief communications officer at Unlock Technologies, a provider of home equity agreements.
“A couple in their mid-30s who enter into a 50-year mortgage agreement would be paying this off into their 80s,” Micheletti previously told GOBankingRates. “That is problematic given that the vast majority of homeowners will be well past income-earning years at that point. It’s likely people will not have saved enough to continue making their payments in those years, yet alone have enough money to cover essential living expenses and healthcare costs.”
Meanwhile, a 50-year-mortgage could actually make housing less affordable, according to Todd Drowlette, real estate developer, investor and star of A+E Network’s “The Real Estate Commission.”
“The housing market is based on supply and demand, and prices are set at the most buyers are willing to pay for a home,” Drowlette previously told GOBankingRates. “If 50-year mortgages drop buyers’ potential monthly payments, then you will have more buyers competing for the same house that can ‘afford’ it, which will drive up prices even higher.”
Banning Institutional Investors From Buying Single-Family Homes
In a Jan. 7 Truth Social post, Trump proposed banning “large institutional investors” from buying single-family homes — especially if those homes end up as rentals.
By banning these sales, it would presumably lead to more housing inventory and lower prices. But Trump might face an uphill climb getting such a law passed. And even if it does, there’s no guarantee home prices would go down.
According to an October report from Goldman Sachs, at least 3 million to 4 million additional homes “beyond normal construction” would need to be built to address the shortage in U.S. housing supply and boost affordability.
“Land use restrictions are the biggest constraint on the growth of housing supply,” the report noted — not the presence of institutional investors buying up available homes.
Editor’s note on political coverage: GOBankingRates is nonpartisan and strives to cover all aspects of the economy objectively and present balanced reports on politically focused finance stories. You can find more coverage of this topic on GOBankingRates.com.
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