What the order does and when it could matter
President Donald Trump signed an executive order aimed at lowering housing-related costs as borrowing costs and prices have climbed. The plan instructs the Federal Housing Finance Agency to test proactively canceling mortgage insurance for eligible borrowers after they reach a defined equity threshold, and it would apply only to mortgages originated after the pilot begins.
The directive also goes after refinancing costs by taking an FHFA pilot and making it permanent. That pilot allowed lenders to skip the lender's title insurance policy and use cheaper alternatives, according to the White House. It had been scheduled to run through November 2027.
The timing is political as well as financial. Arriving fewer than two weeks ahead of the Nov. 3 midterm elections, the action builds on prior directives aimed at limiting Wall Street acquisitions of single family homes. On X, FHFA director Bill Pulte said "millions of Americans will save thousands and thousands of dollars." But HSH vice president Keith Gumbinger cautioned that the consumer impact is hard to size without more specifics.
Mortgage insurance 101 and the proposed pilot
Conventional loans - mortgages that are not backed by a U.S. government program - generally require private mortgage insurance (PMI) when buyers put down less than 20%. By contrast, FHA loans charge mortgage insurance on all FHA mortgages.
Under current practice, many conventional borrowers can remove PMI once their loan balance falls to 80% of the home's original value or once they have 20% equity, per Fannie Mae. Servicers may also drop it automatically at 78% of the original value. The new order tells the FHFA to pilot proactively canceling PMI once borrowers hit a set equity mark, but only for loans originated after that pilot starts.
PMI typically runs about 0.2% to 2% of the loan amount per year, with price driven by down payment size, credit score and loan amount, Fannie Mae says. A Freddie Mac calculator shows that on a $600,000 purchase with 10% down and a 30 year fixed at 7.3%, monthly mortgage insurance could be $351.
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Industry voices are weighing in. "We commend the President's focus on lowering costs for future homeowners, and the private mortgage insurance industry is proud to already be delivering on that goal," said Seth Appleton, president of U.S. Mortgage Insurers. Gumbinger added that "Most mortgages ... are carrying PMI at this point in time, especially with the way home prices have been and down payments being as small as they've been in recent years."
Refi costs, title insurance and where savings show up
The order also targets the refinancing bill. Former FHFA director Sandra Thompson told Congress in April 2024 that the pilot waiving the lender's title insurance policy and allowing "cost-friendly alternatives" was "limited in scope," covering refinances with loan to value ratios below 80% in a few states. Her estimate: borrowers would see closing costs reduced by $500 to $1,500 on loans delivered through the pilot.
Making that approach permanent could help because lender title policies have "always been fairly pricey," Gumbinger said. That lines up with a 2025 Urban Institute report showing lender fees tied to title and title insurance are typically the largest slice of mortgage closing costs.
Rates remain a headwind. Freddie Mac reported that as of Oct. 23 the 30 year fixed averaged 7.32%, while mid October refinance demand was 59% below the level from the same week a year earlier. Which is why Gumbinger tempered expectations: "I don't know that it's necessarily a game-changer in terms of the cost of housing, which is dictated by home price and mortgage rates at the moment," though "But you know, every little bit certainly helps."
Why this matters for your money
Affordability has deteriorated. The order goes after two cost lines in that math: PMI that adds up each year, and refi closing costs anchored by title fees.
The near term impact will hinge on implementation details FHFA now needs to spell out, including when proactive PMI cancellations start for new loans and how broadly the title insurance waiver is applied beyond the pilot's initial footprint. For investors tracking housing, watch lenders, mortgage insurers and title service providers for clues on pricing power and volume as these changes roll out.
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