Jan 9 (Reuters) - Mortgage lenders surged in premarket trading on Friday, a day after U.S. President Donald Trump said he is ordering his representatives to buy $200 billion in mortgage bonds to bring down housing costs.
U.S. housing affordability has been under a persistent strain, with high mortgage rates and elevated home prices keeping many buyers on the sidelines.
Policymakers have faced growing pressure to find ways to lower borrowing costs and revive housing activity after years of subdued demand
and sluggish loan growth.
Trump said in a post on social media platform Truth Social the purchase was aimed at bringing down mortgage rates and monthly payments to make housing affordable.
"I am giving special attention to the housing market," he added.
Consumer lender loanDepot surged 17% before the bell, while Rocket Companies gained 6%. UWM Holdings was last up 7% and Opendoor Technologies rose nearly 10%.
U.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte said on X later on Thursday Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will execute the purchase.
The two mortgage finance giants have been under government control since 2008. They were bailed out with taxpayer funds, and the Department of Treasury received preferred shares in return, which paid billions of dollars in dividends over the years.
"Because I chose not to sell Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in my First Term ... it is now worth many times that amount," Trump wrote in his post on Truth Social.
Investors have been closely watching policy moves, market shifts or interest rates that could alter the outlook for mortgage volume and earnings after a prolonged slowdown in the U.S. housing market.
Earlier this week, Trump also said his administration is moving to ban Wall Street firms from buying up single-family homes in a bid to reduce home prices.
(Reporting by Manya Saini and Utkarsh Shetti in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri)
