President-elect Donald Trump said he intends to nominate Bill Pulte to become the next director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA). If confirmed by the Senate, Pulte would take over for Sandra Thompson and become the agency’s fourth director since it was established in July 2008.
Pulte is the founder and CEO of Pulte Capital Partners LLC, a strategic investment firm focused exclusively on investing in leading building products businesses. He is known for holding frequent giveaways on social media to support philanthropic causes.
“Bill needs no formal introduction to the Great Citizens of our Country, because they have seen, and many have experienced, his philanthropy firsthand,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) President and CEO Bob Broeksmit congratulated Pulte on his nomination and expressed eagerness to work with him on the task of leading the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) out of conservatorship.
“The conservatorship of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac was never intended to be permanent,” Broeksmit said in a statement. “MBA stands ready to work with the administration and Congress to ensure that the transition to a post-conservatorship era for the GSEs is done the right way, including the critical step that Congress approves an explicit federal backstop for the GSEs’ mortgage-backed securities, to prevent severe market disruptions.”
He said the trade group also will be eager to weigh in on policies and programs designed to boost housing supply and create affordable opportunities for homebuyers and renters while protecting taxpayers and ensuring a robust secondary mortgage market and Federal Home Loan Bank system for single-family and multifamily lenders.
The American Bankers Association (ABA) highlighted an interview Pulte gave to Fox Business last year during which he blamed high home prices on regulation and the lack of housing supply.
“Until we increase supply, whether it comes from old homes… or new homes, you’re going to have these prices go up,” Pulte said. “And if we don’t do something with regulation, and we don’t cut some of these regulations, I think you will see prices go way higher.”
Pulte is the grandson of William Pulte, founder of the PulteGroup and Pulte Homes, one of the country’s largest home construction and real estate development companies.
Thompson announced she planned to step down the day before Trump’s inauguration Jan. 20. She was appointed as acting director of the FHFA in June 2021 and sworn in as director one year later.
Thompson has more than 40 years of private and public sector finance experience. Before being tapped for the director role, she served as deputy director of the FHFA’s Division of Housing Mission and Goals (DHMG) for about eight years, overseeing the agency’s housing and regulatory policy, capital policy, fair lending, and mission-critical activities for GSEs. Prior to that, she spent 23 years at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) in a variety of leadership positions, including as director of the division of risk management supervision.