CNN reported Friday that the average monthly mortgage payment has fallen by roughly $260 since President Donald Trump took office a year ago. The network, which is typically critical of Trump and his policies, highlighted the shift during a business segment examining housing affordability.
CNN business reporter Matt Egan compared the monthly payment for a buyer who purchased a $500,000 home with a 20 percent down payment in January 2025 to the cost today.
In January 2025, the monthly payment was $2,672, compared with $2,414 now, a difference of about $260.
Egan noted that over the course of a year, the decline translates to roughly $3,000 less in interest payments.
Over the life of a typical mortgage, the savings amount to approximately $90,000, he said.
“That’s huge. That’s less money going to the bank, and more for everything else,” Egan said.
Egan pointed to Trump’s recent announcement that the federal government would have Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac purchase roughly $200 billion in home mortgages as one factor putting downward pressure on rates.
The government-sponsored entities buy loans from lenders, package them into mortgage-backed securities, and sell them to investors, replenishing lender funds and helping keep interest rates lower for borrowers.
Inflation has also cooled under Trump, with the Consumer Price Index rising 2.6 percent last month.
Lower inflation has given the Federal Reserve room to cut the rate it charges banks, which influences the prime lending rate passed on to consumers.
Beyond interest rates, home prices have also declined over the past year, coinciding with the Trump administration’s removal of millions of illegal immigrants from the country.
The White House said in a social media post that home list prices declined year over year in 14 of the 20 metro areas with the largest illegal migrant populations.
The statement added that the three metro areas that saw modest price increases were all sanctuary cities.
Several of the sharpest price declines occurred in border states including Texas, Arizona, and California.
Realtor.com reported the steepest year-over-year home price drops in Tampa, Phoenix, Dallas, Miami, and San Diego.
The largest price increases were recorded in Minneapolis, Cleveland, Boston, New York City, and Chicago.President Trump said in December that Americans will see lower prescription drug prices following agreements reached between his administration and nine major pharmaceutical companies. Trump announced the deals during an event at the White House attended by executives from what he described as nine of the world’s largest drug manufacturers.
He said the companies agreed to offer several flagship medications to U.S. consumers at discounted “most favored nation” prices, Mediaite reported.
Trump said the pricing model would match the lowest price paid for the same drugs anywhere in the world. “In other words, whatever the drug sells for in the world, whatever the lowest number is, we will match that price,” said the president on Friday.
He said Americans have been paying prices that are sometimes ten times higher than those charged in other countries. Trump added that the administration has announced similar price reductions in recent months, including for weight loss drugs such as Ozempic. He said the newly discounted drugs include treatments for diabetes, asthma and blood thinning.
Trump said negotiations with the pharmaceutical companies were difficult but said the companies acknowledged their pricing practices were unfair.
Bloomberg reported that the administration reached the agreements in exchange for a three-year reprieve from potential tariffs on pharmaceutical products.
The White House did not immediately provide details on how the pricing changes would be implemented or when consumers would see the reductions.
Trump said Americans have effectively been subsidizing lower drug prices in other countries for years. “We are not doing it anymore,” Trump said.