Trump admin suggests 'portable mortgages' to fix housing crisis
'The Big Money Show' panel discusses Federal housing official Bill Pulte floating the idea of 'portable mortgages' to incentivize selling homes and revitalizing the declining housing market.
Billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman said he will unveil a new proposal next week involving Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the mortgage-finance giants that have been under federal conservatorship since the 2008 financial crisis.
Ackman said in a post on X that his plan would allow the Trump administration "to achieve all of its objectives of maximizing value for taxpayers, eliminating the risk of mortgage spreads widening, and enabling the U.S. Treasury to demonstrate a mark-to-market value for its shareholdings in the two companies."
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Bill Ackman, chief executive officer of Pershing Square Capital Management LP, speaks during the WSJ D.Live global technology conference in Laguna Beach, California on Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2017. (Patrick Fallon/Bloomberg/Getty Images / Getty Images)
Ackman said the livestream, scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 18 at 10:30 a.m. ET, will outline the proposal in detail. He added that the transaction could be completed before year-end, "meeting the expectations of all stakeholders."
He also aimed to clarify market speculation, saying Pershing Square "has not sold our stake in the two companies" and remains the largest common shareholder of both, with more than 210 million shares combined.
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Earlier this year, Ackman suggested folding Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac into a single entity to cut costs and reduce mortgage rates, an idea he says would streamline the housing-finance system and unlock shareholder value.
What are Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac?
Fannie Mae offices in Reston, Virginia on Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2025. (Al Drago/Bloomberg/Getty Images / Getty Images)
Fannie Mae (Federal National Mortgage Association) and Freddie Mac (Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation) are government-sponsored enterprises that sit at the heart of the U.S. housing-finance system.
Rather than making home loans directly to borrowers, they buy mortgages from banks and lenders, bundle them into securities and guarantee those securities for investors.
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This process provides lenders with steady cash to make new loans, keeping mortgage credit flowing and rates relatively stable nationwide.
Fannie Mae was created in 1938 during the New Deal to expand homeownership by establishing a secondary mortgage market. Three decades later, Freddie Mac was formed to promote competition and add liquidity to that same market.
The Freddie Mac headquarters in McLean, Virginia on Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2025. (Al Drago/Bloomberg/Getty Images/Getty Images / Getty Images)
The duo now back or own roughly half of all U.S. residential mortgages, representing about $12 trillion in outstanding debt.
Their dominance also made them central to the 2008 financial crisis, when both suffered steep losses on bad loans.
The federal government responded by placing them under conservatorship through the Federal Housing Finance Agency, where they remain today.
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An "Open House" sign in front of a home for sale in the Woodland Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles, California on July 13, 2025. (Eric Thayer/Bloomberg/Getty Images / Getty Images)
Ackman’s announcement comes as the Trump administration explores new ways to make housing more affordable, including a proposed 50-year mortgage, even as critics warn such measures could saddle borrowers with more long-term debt.
Whether either effort gains traction could determine how the next phase of U.S. housing policy balances affordability, risk and taxpayer exposure.
