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During his testimony this week before the full House Financial Services Committee, U.S. Department of Treasury Secretary Jack Lew stated when asked about GSEs and the conservatorship that the system should be restructured, but the time was not right for the conservatorship to end. Lew was testifying before the House Financial Services Committee on the 2015 Annual Report of the Financial Stability Oversight Council.
When questioned by Representative Ed Royce, a Republican from California who has been a strong advocate of ending the FHFA's conservatorship of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and paying GSE dividends to taxpayers instead of Treasury, Lew said he thought GSE reform should take place, but disagreed as to the ending of the conservatorship, saying, "The damage done to our economy by the housing crisis was far more than the simple amount of money that was put into the GSEs, and I think Americans are still healing from the pain of that financial crisis."
The housing market experience experienced a "conflict" between supply and demand in May as increased home values resulted in sales, which subsequently increased supply – but at the same time, lack of affordability and economic uncertainty reduced demand, according to First American Chief Economist Mark Fleming. The market capacity for existing-home sales increased by 0 point 3 percent month-over-month and 12.5 percent year-over-year in May, while rising interest rates and a slight jump in unemployment countered equity-enhancing home price appreciation.
