The Spring Street Brief

President Trump signed an executive order on October 22, 2026, targeting single-family housing and mortgage costs, directing the FHFA to restructure mortgage insurance premiums, expand title insurance waivers, and stand up a new Manufactured Housing Innovation Task Force co-chaired by HUD and FHFA. Separately, the Treasury Department proposed regulations under the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act that would restrict large institutional investors from purchasing single-family homes starting January 7, 2027. Together, these two actions carry meaningful implications for LIHTC developers,...

Show Notes

President Trump signed an executive order on October 22, 2026, targeting single-family housing and mortgage costs, directing the FHFA to restructure mortgage insurance premiums, expand title insurance waivers, and stand up a new Manufactured Housing Innovation Task Force co-chaired by HUD and FHFA. Separately, the Treasury Department proposed regulations under the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act that would restrict large institutional investors from purchasing single-family homes starting January 7, 2027. Together, these two actions carry meaningful implications for LIHTC developers, syndicators, and lenders — particularly around manufactured housing eligibility and single-family rental market dynamics.

Key Takeaways:

  • The executive order directs FHFA to launch a pilot program eliminating mortgage insurance premiums for borrowers meeting equity thresholds based on current market values — removing a recurring monthly cost for eligible homeowners nationwide.
  • FHFA's title insurance waiver pilot is directed to become permanent and expand to more borrowers, targeting a reduction in refinancing closing costs.
  • A new Task Force on Manufactured Housing Innovation, co-chaired by the HUD Secretary and the FHFA director, is created to promote modern manufacturing methods and reduce costs for factory-built housing eligible for federal programs — a direct signal for LIHTC developers.
  • Treasury's proposed rule implements the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act: starting January 7, 2027, entities controlling at least 350 single-family homes would generally be barred from new single-family purchases unless an exception applies.
  • Excepted purchases under the proposed rule include build-to-rent, renovate-to-rent, homeownership programs, and programs to boost homeownership — definitions still being finalized.
  • The public comment window on Treasury's proposed rule closes November 23, 2026; NAHB has confirmed it will submit comments.
  • Departments of Agriculture and Veterans Affairs are directed to reduce interest rates on their single-family loan programs, potentially affecting financing cost benchmarks in rural and veteran-targeted affordable deals.

The manufactured housing task force is the provision LIHTC practitioners should monitor most closely in the near term. If HUD and FHFA move to streamline how factory-built units are treated in federal programs, it could unlock new construction pathways in markets where site-built costs have made deals unworkable. State HFAs may follow with QAP adjustments. On the institutional investor rule, organizations involved in build-to-rent or renovate-to-rent structures should engage the comment process before the November 23 deadline to help define what qualifies as an excepted purchase.

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