United States President Donald Trump has called upon Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to spur a new wave of home construction.
Trump has accused large homebuilders of “sitting on 2 million empty lots” and likened their behaviour to OPEC’s control of oil prices.
“They’re my friends, and they’re very important to the SUCCESS of our Country, but now, they can get Financing, and they have to start building Homes,” Trump said.
“I’m asking Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to get Big Homebuilders going and, by so doing, help restore the American Dream!”
These comments come as housing inventory has rebounded from historic lows in 2022, while builders still face limited incentives to ramp up construction.
According to the latest Census Bureau data, there were 490,000 new houses for sale at the end of August, which is the lowest level for the year and 1.4% below July’s estimates.
While there has been a 10.6% rise in inventory to 2.1 million homes in August, sales have slowed due to there being more buyers than sellers by more than 500,000 according to Redfin.
It is currently unclear what action the President is expecting builders or mortgage companies to take.
While Trump is calling upon the finance firms to increase building, the mechanics of how they might spur more homebuilding remain unclear, with the broader issue of housing affordability and supply dominating the debate in the industry.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have guaranteed over half the nation’s mortgages and have been under federal conservatorship since the 2008 financial crisis.
Since stepping into office, Trump and his administration have pushed for the privatisation of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
