Tag Archives: Fannie Mae

“Despite mixed housing and mortgage market data, our forecast for housing activity is little changed over the past several months,” Duncan said. “The supply of existing homes remains lean amid slowing new single-family construction, putting significant upward pressure on home prices. While this helps boost home equity, it hurts affordability, especially for potential first-time homebuyers."

The amendment to H.R. 2577, known as the Jumpstart GSE Reform Act, was introduced by Corker, Warner, Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts), and Senator David Vitter (R-Louisiana) in September and offered on Thursday by Corker and Warner as an amendment to H.R. 2577. The Jumpstart GSE Reform Act prohibits the sale of Treasury-owned preferred shares in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac without approval from Congress, and also prohibits increases in guarantee fees charged by the GSEs from offsetting non-housing related government spending.

Fannie Mae’s credit risk transfer program, Connecticut Avenue Securities (CAS), has sold more than $12.4 billion in securities to private investors, which covers $438 billion worth of mortgage loans since the program’s inception in September 2013. Fannie Mae estimates by the end of 2015, it will have transferred a portion of the credit risk on approximately half a trillion dollars worth of single-family mortgages.

The GSEs’ exposure to credit risk from mortgages originated during the years of the housing bubble continues to be “significant but declining,” according to the FHFA’s Performance and Accountability Report for Fiscal Year 2015. But in addition to experiencing a decline in exposure to credit risk, the GSEs have also experienced significantly declining revenues.

S. 2036, also known as the Equity in Government Compensation Act of 2015,was initially scheduled to be voted on by the House in late October, but was postponed due to a hefty lineup of other legislation, including voting on a new Speaker of the House.

“These are big numbers that demand our attention,” said Nuno Mota, an economist at Fannie Mae. “However, considering that there are a number of affordability metrics currently used throughout the industry, are these numbers providing the most accurate view of the overall affordability picture, or are we only getting a partial view?”

Obama Administration officials such as Treasury Secretary Jack Lew have warned in the last month that such a “recap and release” program for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac would put the GSEs at risk of another bailout; however, the GSEs’ Q3 earnings reports showed a $475 million net loss for Freddie Mac and a decline of more than 50 percent in Fannie Mae’s quarterly net income (from $4.6 billion in Q2 down to $2 billion in Q3), prompting their boss, FHFA Director Mel Watt, to declare that they may need a bailout anyway.

The FHFA said that beginning December 1, 2015, local community organizations will be able to review and purchase foreclosed properties owned by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in the newly added 18 metro areas before they hit the public market.

Fannie Mae announced the winners in its third NPL sale on Tuesday, and on Monday Freddie Mac announced its eighth NPL transaction of 2015. Both transactions total approximately $1.2 billion in unpaid principal balance (UPB).

According to similar releases from the GSEs, starting on November 13, 2015, Fannie Mae will lower its standard modification interest rate from 4 percent to 3.875 percent. Meanwhile, Freddie Mac will lower its standard modification interest rate by the same amount beginning on November 5, 2015.