Biden, Trump and mortgage rates

In today’s Daily Download episode, HousingWire continues its 2020 election coverage by discussing what a Biden or Trump victory could mean for the housing industry.

For some background, here’s a summary of each article:

What a Biden victory would mean for housing?
As results trickle in following a historic 2020 general election, results seem to be leaning towarda Joe Biden victory, but potentially also a Republican-led Senate. What would the impact of a Biden presidency be on housing?

Gridlock in Washington won’t stop Biden’s administration from attempting to push through sweeping changes into housing, where the former vice president has promised to invest $640 billion over the next 10 years so Americans can have “access to housing that is affordable, stable, safe and healthy, accessible, energy efficient and resilient,” according to his campaign website. 

He has pledged to introduce a tax credit for first-time homebuyers upwards of $15,000, reintroduce sharper regulatory teeth to agencies such as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, alter a spate of restrictive zoning laws to increase development, build millions of units of affordable housing, and cap payments for certain renters. It is also widely believed a Biden administration would keep the GSEs under conservatorship. 

What would a Trump win mean for housing?
In the event that Trump wins the presidency, what would that mean for the housing industry for the next four years?

One of the largest impacts will be what happens to the conservatorship status of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

When Trump appointed Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Mark Calabria to take the helm of the agency on Dec. 12, 2018, the director was very clear on his goals: remove the GSEs from conservatorship and define the FHFA’s role without them.

For now, the FHFA continues to operate under the assumption that business will continue as normal. Just last week the FHFA released its strategic plan for 2021 to 2024, which continues to prepare Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to leave conservatorship.

But a Trump presidency is needed in order to ensure the GSE conservatorship really will end.

Following the main story, HousingWire covers Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey, which shows mortgage rates have fallen to a new all-time low, coming in at a historic low of 2.78%. This rate now marks the 12th time this year mortgage rates have broken their own record, a sentiment Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist, says is likely due to political and economic ambiguity.

“Despite the uncertainty that we’ve all experienced this year, the housing market, buoyed by low rates, continues to be a bright spot,” Khater said.

The Daily Download examines the most compelling articles reported from the HousingWire newsroom. Each afternoon, we provide our listeners with a deeper look into the stories coming across our newsroom that are helping Move Markets Forward. Hosted by the HW team and produced by Alcynna Lloyd.

HousingWire articles covered in this episode:

• What a Biden victory would mean for housing
• What would a Trump win mean for housing?
• Mortgage rates drop to another historic low at 2.78%