The ""Federal Reserve Bank of New York"":http://www.newyorkfed.org/markets/mbs/index.html purchased $27.1 billion in agency mortgage-backed securities (MBS) this week. Total MBS purchases since the government program began in early January now stands at $217 billion.
The central bank intends to buy up a total of $500 billion MBS from government-sponsored agencies. The MBS purchases are aimed at increasing liquidity and confidence in the secondary market and mortgage financing industry. The Fed expects these efforts to reduce the cost and increase the availability of credit for the purchase of homes.
The gross amount of the Federal Reserve's MBS purchases this week totaled $61.37 billion. The Fed bought $18.72 billion in mortgage securities from ""Freddie Mac"":http://www.freddiemac.com, $40.55 billion from ""Fannie Mae"":http://www.fanniemae.com, and $2.1 billion from ""Ginnie Mae"":http://www.ginniemae.gov. Except for $100 million each from Freddie and Fannie, which will mature in 15 years, the remaining securities have a maturity of 30 years.
In late January, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke told congressional leaders that the agency may also soon begin modifying the loans it holds in these securities ""to help avoid preventable foreclosures on residential properties"" and to ""maximize the net present value of the assets for the benefit of taxpayers.""