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Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac completed 8,464 foreclosure prevention actions in August, bringing the total to 4,372,944 since the start of the conservatorships in September 2008 according to the latest FHFA Foreclosure Prevention, Refinance and FPM Report. There were 5,721 permanent loan modifications in August, bringing the total to 2,368,691 since the conservatorships began in September 2008.
Additionally, the GSE's serious delinquency rate remained unchanged at 0.65% at the end of August from July. Total refinance volume increased in August 2019 as mortgage rates fell in previous months. Mortgage rates decreased in August: the average interest rate on 30‐year fixed rate mortgage fell to 3.62% from 3.77% in July.
Including maintaining foreclosure prevention activities and credit availability, the FHFA’s three strategic goals as conservator of the GSEs, reducing taxpayer risk, and building a new single-family securitization infrastructure, the Unified Mortgage Backed Security.
Freddie Mac recently announced that its Single-Family Credit Risk Transfer (CRT) programs have surpassed the $50 billion mark in transferring credit risk to private investors and (re)insurers. From program inception to date, the company has transferred a portion of the credit risk on more than $1.3 trillion of Single-Family mortgages based on unpaid principle balance (UPB) at issuance.
Per FHFA guidelines, Freddie Mac now transfers the credit risk on more than 90% of the UPB on CRT-eligible, newly-acquired Single-Family mortgages.
“I am proud of our accomplishments and the positive impact we are making on the U.S. housing finance industry,” said Mike Reynolds, VP, Single-Family Credit Risk Transfer. “Freddie Mac will continue to lead the industry with innovation in the CRT space and set the standard for credit risk management.”
The goal of Freddie Mac’s Single-Family CRT programs is to transfer credit risk away from U.S. taxpayers to global private capital via securities and (re)insurance policies. Earlier this year, Freddie Mac reported a slight increase in comprehensive income in Q2 2019 from the previous quarter, up to $1.8 billion.
“Freddie Mac’s second quarter continued our growing track record of strong returns, solid risk management and an unwavering commitment to our mission,” said Freddie Mac CEO David Brickman. “Once again, we made home possible for hundreds of thousands of families across the country.”
