Pulte’s comment indicates that the 50-year mortgage proposal, which has been criticized by White House officials as well as industry experts, will not be among the actions under Trump’s order. POLITICO reported that Pulte initially submitted this proposal to the president.
Pulte said Friday that the president is reviewing a list of 30 to 50 housing solutions proposed by himself and other top administration officials, including Vice President JD Vance, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Scott Turner, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett.
Pulte also said Fannie and Freddie, the government-sponsored mortgage entities overseen by his agency, began following Trump’s directive Thursday to buy $200 billion in mortgage bonds in an effort to lower home loan rates, starting with a $3 billion purchase.
Mortgage bonds are comprised of home loans that government-controlled Fannie and Freddie, along with private financial institutions, purchase and package into securities bought and sold by investors.
But Fannie and Freddie can also buy back these bonds, called mortgage-backed securities, in the public market. Government-controlled entities were bailed out by the Treasury Department and placed under government conservatorship after suffering massive losses from defaulting on subprime mortgages following the 2008 financial crisis.
Pulte pushed back on concerns that Fannie and Freddie may not be adequately protected against the risks posed by increasing their portfolio of mortgage-backed securities.
“The mortgages that we’re writing are not like they were in 2008, and so we’re very confident in our liquidity position,” Pulte said. “I think Fannie and Freddie have way more cash than we know what to do with.”
Pulte also responded to criticism of his mortgage fraud referrals against New York Attorney General Letitia James, Sen. Adam Schiff (Democrat of California), Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook and Rep. Eric Swalwell (California Democrat) were politically motivated – claiming his agency had also made similar references against Republicans.
“We also talked about the Republicans. Now it’s not leaked to the liberal press,” Pulte said. When reporters asked which Republicans Pulte had identified as potentially guilty of mortgage fraud, he responded, “I will not comment on any specific investigation.” »
Pulte spoke out publicly and posted on social media the dismissals against James, Cook and Schiff.
Victoria Guida contributed to this report.
