patrick.net

Yes, I sure hope this happens. I have selfish reasons, but I think it's also good for couples that want to buy a house to have babies in.

My only worry is that the new flow of money will drive up house prices to some degree, negating the benefit.

The real solution is to build more houses near where the jobs are.

Yeah we'll see the details next week.

But @Patrick, they're talking about only down payments though, a good step but not the full costs. Well we'll see.

Down payment assistance (which is really what this is) will spike prices in the short term. It will probably be neutral in the longer term as people become a lot more shy about gambling their own retirement money on FOMO feels.

Patrick says

My only worry is that the new flow of money will drive up house prices to some degree, negating the benefit.

That house price rise is a given.

floki says

Crossing fingers

https://www.breitbart.com/economy/2026/01/16/trump-to-unveil-plan-allowing-401k-withdrawals-for-home-down-payments/

This is not even click worthy, 10% of what, average median 401(k) balances I believe is below 300K.
Current 401(k) Loan Rules for Home Purchases:
Lesser of 50% or $50K.
It’s fair to assume that all politicians throw nothing burgers at public to get votes.

I'd speculate that many younger home buyers get some help with the downpayments from families, especially on a first home. Maybe just enough help to get into one. For those that do not, this proposal just might be the difference between owning a home or not. It's supposed to be a tax and penalty free withdrawl as opposed to being a loan as is available today so no post-tax repayments taken out of their wages either. Overall, I think that's a good thing for those intent on buying one after having considered all other pros and cons.