Does President Trump's Push to Lower Mortgage Rates Make These 2 Stocks a Buy?

2026-01-20 13:35:14 ET

Mortgage rates have been a thorn in the side of the U.S. economy for several years, and they've also been a bugaboo for President Trump.

After a housing boom during the pandemic, mortgage rates soared in the inflationary period that started in 2022, and remain elevated today, though they have eased down from their peak. As a result, the housing market has been as weak as it's been in a generation, and President Trump sees elevated interest rates and mortgage rates as a pain point for both the economy and his administration.

He's pressured the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates, and he's now taking a new approach to easing mortgage rates by announcing that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac would buy $200 billion mortgage bonds. Such a move will raise prices and therefore lower yields on mortgages since rates for new mortgages tend to follow rates for mortgage bonds.

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