Expanded Loan-Level Dataset Aimed at Helping Investors Support Credit Risk Offerings

Freddie Mac on Monday announced that all fixed-rate single-family mortgages have been added to the Enterprise’s publicly available Single-Family Loan-Level Dataset, bringing the total of mortgage loans in that dataset up to 21.5 million.

The loans in Freddie Mac’s Single-Family Loan-Level dataset were all originated between January 1, 1999, and December 31, 2014. The dataset that was publicly available previously included only loan-level and actual loss data for 30-year fixed-rate single-family mortgage loans owned or guaranteed by Freddie Mac.

The goal of the expanded dataset is to help investors build more accurate credit performance models in support of Freddie Mac’s single-family credit risk offerings by providing transparency for a wider range of mortgage loans owned or guaranteed by Freddie Mac, according to the announcement.

“Providing investors with this expanded view of credit risk for additional fixed-rate single-family mortgages will enable us to grow and evolve our credit risk offerings by expanding the products available for risk transfer and increasing the amount of risk transferred to private investors,” said Kevin Palmer, SVP of Credit Risk Transfer at Freddie Mac. “Releasing this data now will help give potential credit investors sufficient time to analyze Freddie Mac's actual loss performance.”

Freddie Mac’s historical dataset originally became available in March 2013. According to Monday's announcement:

• Approximately 3.3 million of the loans contained in the loan-level credit performance expanded dataset are 15- and 20-year fixed rate single-family mortgages originated between January1, 2005, and December 31, 2014; approximately 18.2 million of the loans are 30-year fixed-rate mortgages originated between January 1, 1999, and December 31, 2014.
• Monthly loan performance data is included in the expanded dataset. This includes credit performance information up to and including property disposition up to June 30, 2015.
• Information that the expanded dataset does include: data on adjustable-rate mortgages, balloon mortgages, initial interest mortgages, government-insured mortgages, relief financing mortgages (including the government’s Home Affordable Mortgage Program, or HAMP), as well as other non-standard or affordable mortgages

“Freddie Mac continues to look for opportunities to transfer mortgage credit risk to private investors in an economically sensible way,” Palmer said. “Adding all fixed-rate products to our Single-Family Loan-Level Dataset allows us to explore other credit risk transfer opportunities.”

Click here to access Freddie Mac’s Single-Family Loan-Level Dataset.