“Affordability is front and center for Americans across the country, who are feeling the pressure of rising housing costs,” said Sarah Brundage, president and CEO of the National Association of Affordable Housing Lenders (NAAHL), said in a statement released ahead of the State of the Union address.
“Expanding homeownership is a goal worth championing. But more than a third of American households rent, and their ability to afford a stable home is just as essential to a strong workforce and a thriving economy. A productive housing agenda serves everyone, renters as well as future and current homeowners.”
Shannon McGahn, chief advocacy officer at the National Association of Real Estate Agentsreiterated what was expected to be a theme of the speech: “housing affordability has emerged as one of the few truly bipartisan issues in Washington.”
Mortgage interest
The president talked about inflation and tax cuts, but mentioned mortgage rates only once. “Low interest rates will solve the housing problem created by Biden while protecting the values of those people who already own homes, who feel truly wealthy for the first time in their lives. We want to uphold those values. We’re going to do both,” Trump said.
The president could have emphasized how much mortgage rates have improved by 2026. Mortgage rates fell this week to their lowest level since September 2022, according to HousingWire‘s Mortgage Interest Center. And monthly mortgage payments fell 7.5% year over year in December, according to the Association of Mortgage Bankers (MBA).
Mortgage refinancing applications also rose 132% year-over-year in the week ending Feb. 13, the MBA reported. This is a signal that homeowners are charging lower rates and saving thousands of dollars per year. And while single-family home inventory growth has slowed in recent months, it is still 9% higher than a year ago, indicating that buyers in many parts of the country have more choices and less competition.
In January, Trump directed the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) Fannie Mae And Freddie Mac to purchase $200 billion worth of mortgage-backed securities in an effort to further lower mortgage rates.
Ban big investors
The president spoke of a woman in the audience as an example of how consumers had to compete with large institutional investors, saying she had lost 20 different homes to institutional investors who all paid in cash. Trump signed an executive order in January banning institutional investors from purchasing single-family homes, although industry experts have noted that corporate homebuyers represent about 2% of all home sales.
“Now I’m asking Congress to make that ban permanent, because homes are for people, not businesses,” Trump said Tuesday evening.
Immigration and housing
While Trump spent time talking about illegal immigration, he did not mention it in the context of housing. Last year, the Trump administration banned non-resident citizens from taking out mortgages through the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), because it wanted to ensure that financing resources went to American citizens.
Administration officials also ended the Obama-era Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing rule, a law originally intended as an extension of the Fair Housing Act but deemed “burdensome” by Trump officials.
Rates
Early in his speech, Trump brought up the Supreme Court’s ruling against the tariffs he imposed in April 2025. Trump’s “Liberation Day” introduced global tariffs on numerous imported products, including key building materials such as steel, lumber and aluminum. Homebuilders responded by fighting for exemptions, some of which were successful. But the true cost of tariffs has remained uncertain, a report from the Center for American Progress he predicts $17,500 in additional costs to build a new home as a result of the rate policy.
The Supreme Court overturned the tariffs last week, saying the president overstepped his authority by imposing them under a law intended for national emergencies.
Trump on Tuesday called it an “unfortunate statement” and promised to maintain the import tariffs.
“The good news is that almost all countries and companies want to stick to the deal they already made, knowing that the legal power I have as president to make a new deal could be much worse for them,” Trump said.
Bipartisan housing legislation
Housing issues may have received little attention during the State of the Union address, but housing groups like the NAAHL say they are ready to take action on bipartisan housing legislation being considered in Congress, including the Senate‘s ROAD to the Housing Act and the HouseHousing Act for the 21st Century.
“Additionally, Congress should pass the Neighborhood Homes Investment Act, which would immediately incentivize the construction and renovation of affordable, owner-occupied starter homes,” Brundage said. “These bills have broad support. What they need now is urgency.”
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