Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Director Bill Pulte has made an unsubtle threat against home builders if they continue making stock repurchases.
In a Wall Street Journal interview, Pulte accused builders of intentionally keeping home prices elevated and called on the industry to lower prices and build more homes.
“They’re making, in some cases, more money than they’ve ever made, and they’re buying back stock like never before,” Pulte said. “It’s something that we’re studying, you know, how much money they’re spending on buybacks.”
With buybacks, companies use repurchase stock to increase share prices and return money to shareholders. During 2025, the builders DR Horton repurchased $4.3 billion in stock while Lennar spent $1.7 billion on buybacks. PulteGroup, which is owned and operated by the FHFA director’s family, spent $900 million on buybacks in the first three quarters of its 2025 fiscal year
Pulte further insisted that builders should not use Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to “fund buybacks at the expense of Americans who need to get in homes,” insinuating the administration would target builders that don’t voluntarily follow his request.
“Read between the lines on that one,” said Pulte. “Our preference is to use carrots, but sticks are on the table.”
President Trump has tasked Pulte to convince builders to increase their construction volume. To date, however, no builder has acquiesced to Pulte’s efforts to expand available inventory.
