Trump’s housing order would use AVMs to cancel mortgage insurance and weighs dropping appraisals on some refinancesThe housing order would use AVMs to cancel mortgage insurance and weighs dropping appraisals on some refinances.

Under Section 2, if the FHFA Director finds it in the interest of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, FHFA and the public, the Director sets up a pilot program “applicable only to mortgages made after the establishment of the pilot program.” Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac would periodically review those loans “using automated valuation models and other available data to assess current market value,” and cancel the insurance once the borrower meets equity, payment-history and safety-and-soundness requirements. Servicers would notify borrowers promptly “to the extent permitted by law and operationally feasible,” and FHFA would reduce documentation requests, appraisal costs and other barriers to cancellation.

Two sets of rules apply today. Federal law, the Homeowners Protection Act, works from the home’s original value: a borrower can ask to cancel private mortgage insurance (PMI) when the balance is scheduled to reach 80% of original value, and PMI ends automatically at 78% or at the loan’s midpoint if the borrower is current. The CFPB notes that the borrower may have to provide evidence, “for example, an appraisal,” that “the value of your property hasn’t declined below the original value of the home.” Fannie Mae’s Servicing Guide adds a route based on current value: a 75% loan-to-value ratio (LTV) once the loan is two to five years old, or 80% after five, confirmed by a valuation “based on an inspection of both the interior and exterior of the property.”

Until September, Fannie Mae’s guide barred servicers from contacting borrowers about removing insurance based on current value. Lender Letter LL-2026-07, issued “At the direction of U.S. Federal Housing (FHFA)” on Sept. 16, 2026, lets them do so, effective immediately. The order goes further in two ways: the two companies would screen loans with automated valuation models (AVMs) themselves, and in the pilot the insurance could come off based on an AVM value, while today’s rule requires an interior and exterior valuation. Because the pilot covers only new mortgages, borrowers with existing loans keep today’s routes.

The calculator applies these rules to a 30-year fixed loan on a one-unit home. Change the inputs to see when each route opens. It assumes steady appreciation and on-time payments, which every route requires.

Section 4 directs FHFA to turn Fannie Mae’s title acceptance pilot, which accepts an automated title review in place of a lender’s title policy on eligible refinances, into an ongoing nationwide program at both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. In expanding it, the Director “shall consider” four things: allowing loans above the current 80% LTV limit; adding title-assessment providers; waiving appraisals, income reverification and other documents for limited cash-out refinances that lower the monthly payment; and reducing or eliminating loan-level price adjustments (LLPAs) and other fees on those loans. “The Director shall require that cost savings resulting from the program be passed through to borrowers and that lenders inform borrowers of those savings.”

Today’s mortgage rates limit who can use this. Freddie Mac’s weekly survey put the 30-year fixed rate at 7.32% on October 22, up from 5.98% on February 26 and down from 7.4% on October 8 and 15. HousingWire reports that Fannie Mae’s October 16 outlook cut its 2027 origination forecast by 18%.

FHFA’s National Mortgage Database counts 51.4 million outstanding mortgages in the second quarter of 2026. 65.6% carry a rate under 5%, and 22.5% carry 6% or more. The database does not break down that top group, so it does not show how many loans carry a rate above today’s 7.32%. A refinance can also lower a payment without a lower rate, by dropping mortgage insurance or restarting a 30-year term.

The title pilot started in November 2024 with Doma as its first vendor; Westcor joined in July 2025. Fannie Mae describes it as a limited test for certain refinances with low title risk, which can be sold without a lender’s title policy or an attorney opinion letter. HousingWire reported that it is limited to loans under 80% LTV in specific areas. In June 2026 Pulte said Fannie is working to expand it, “especially on title insurance for home refinancings.” The American Land Title Association (ALTA), the title insurance trade group, told Scotsman Guide that fraud and forgery make up about 40% of title claim costs on refinances and that “Eliminating proven safeguards does not eliminate risk.”

LLPAs are fees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac charge on each loan based on credit score, LTV and loan features; lenders usually build them into the borrower’s rate or points. Fannie’s current matrix, dated 09.30.2026, charges limited cash-out refinances more than purchases in most cells, up to 3.875% of the loan. The order does not say how far a cut would go. Pick a cell to see today’s charge in dollars.

Three parts of the order move value decisions toward automated tools: the mortgage insurance pilot, the refinance waivers FHFA must consider, and the Section 1 policy to “embrace innovative risk and value assessment technologies that incorporate Super Intelligence.” The order sets no loan count or loan-to-value ceiling for the waivers and does not define “Super Intelligence” beyond the September 29 order that renamed AI. The Mortgage Bankers Association asked for several of these pieces before the order was signed.

Lenders and appraisers disagree about whether these tools can manage valuation risk. Our analysis sets out the evidence on both sides, including how often appraisals flag a falling market and what one state found when it checked highest and best use.

Section 5 directs the Agriculture Department (USDA) and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to reduce rates on single-family loans their departments make directly, consistent with law and available appropriations; it sets no rate. That covers USDA’s Section 502 Direct program for low- and very-low-income rural buyers and VA’s Native American Direct Loan program. VA’s main home loan program guarantees loans that private lenders price, so those rates would not change. The Mortgage Bankers Association told The Signal it had seen confusion on this point and that the cut “only applies to direct agency loans.”

Section 3 creates a Task Force on Manufactured Housing Innovation, co-chaired by the HUD Secretary and the FHFA Director, with recommendations due by April 20, 2027. It must also evaluate whether federal grant funding “may be conditioned on, or be used to incentivize, State and local adoption of standardized permitting and licensing” for factory-built homes, and prepare legislative recommendations. Separately, HUD’s Manufactured Housing Consensus Committee meets online on Oct. 27 and Oct. 28 on ROAD to Housing Act standards, with public comment periods at the meeting. Our manufactured housing feature covers how Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac finance these homes.

In a reply to The Signal on October 26, MBA spokesperson Adam DeSanctis said the order’s actions “are not self-executing and will require the FHFA director to evaluate and implement the changes,” and that much of what was announced involves “pilots and other things that will not happen immediately.” He said the refinance title waiver “could cut costs, but nobody is refi-ing right now,” and that “the mortgage insurance relief will take time.”

We asked FHFA, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, the Mortgage Bankers Association, The Appraisal Foundation, the Appraisal Institute, the National Association of Appraisers and the Texas Appraiser Licensing and Certification Board for comment by October 28. FHFA, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, the Appraisal Institute, the National Association of Appraisers and the Texas board did not respond by the deadline. The Appraisal Foundation’s statement appears in our analysis of what the order means for appraisers.