Bessent: Trump administration plans new measures to tackle high housing costs - report

[House of dreams]
Daniel Grizelj

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said President Donald Trump's administration is planning new measures to tackle high housing costs in the coming weeks, according to [https://www.reuters.com/world/us/bessent-says-trump-administration-will-tackle-high-housing-costs-with-new-2025-09-01/] a Reuters interview with Bessent.

The government is exploring ways to simplify permitting and encourage standardization to boost construction, a step that is expected to boost housing supply and bring down costs, the Reuters report published on Monday said.

Bessent reportedly believes a bigger rate cut [https://seekingalpha.com/news/4484548-bessent-suggests-that-fed-should-be-open-to-half-point-cut-report] is warranted than the Federal Reserve's standard 25-basis-point increment, due to the Bureau of Labor Statistics' big revision to its May and June jobs numbers earlier this month.

The Treasury secretary told the newswire that he was expecting an increase in real estate transactions and home sales once interest rates began falling. The move is expected to encourage people who were locked into low mortgages to put their existing homes on the market.

According to the newswire, Bessent told the Washington Examiner [https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/white-house/3789052/scott-bessent-big-economic-pickup-2026-national-housing-emergency/] in a separate interview that Trump may declare a national housing emergency this fall in the wake of rising prices and dwindling supply.

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