Tag Archives: FHFA

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced Thursday that the maximum conforming loan limits for mortgages acquired by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in 2013 will remain at existing levels. In most of the country, the loan limit will be $417,000 for one-unit properties, but that ceiling goes as high as $625,500 in certain high-cost markets.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) reported home prices continued to climb higher in September, with prices gaining by 0.2 percent from August. On the same day Tuesday, the Case-Shiller Indices posted a similar monthly increase of 0.3 percent. FHFA's house price index (HPI) also revealed a quarterly price gain of 1.1 percent from the second to the third quarter. Compared to the third quarter last year, prices rose 4 percent. The agency stated the monthly index has increased for eight straight months now.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac updated their disaster relief policies for borrowers impacted by Hurricane Sandy. The policies apply to properties in eligible disaster areas and are specifically for borrowers who have mortgages secured by one of the GSEs. One of the announced policies allows servicers to grant 90-day foreclosure sale and 90-day eviction suspensions. Services are also authorized to extend forbearance and repayment plans for up to 12 months for certain borrowers.

Fannie Mae has experienced significant improvements in recent months. The GSE reported a $1.8 billion net income for the third quarter of this year, a notable improvement over the $5.1 billion loss reported in the same quarter last year. Fannie Mae's third quarter report states the entity will not require a draw from Treasury this quarter. Fannie Mae also incurred a net income of $9.7 billion over the first three quarters of this year, leading the GSE to expect an annual net income for the first time since 2006.

A U.S. district judge squashed an attempt by JPMorgan Chase to fully dismiss a lawsuit from the Federal Housing Finance Agency over alleged fraud over mortgage-backed securities. In its motion to dismiss, JPMorgan argues that FHFA's complaint does not contain enough factual support that loans were not underwritten properly. Judge Denise Cote disagreed, saying the allegations ""amply support FHFA's assertion that the Offering Documents for the Securitizations contained false statements regarding originators' compliance with underwriting standards.""

A turnaround in housing helped drive Freddie Mac to a $2.9 billion profit in the third quarter, the GSE reported. Freddie Mac's net earnings dipped slightly under the $3.0 billion reported for Q2, but it helped keep the company from making any additional Treasury draws. In addition, Freddie's comprehensive income of $5.6 billion in Q3 allowed it to pay a $1.8 billion dividend on senior preferred stock.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced a third bidder scooped up properties in three states for the agency's REO-to-rental initiative, leaving Atlanta as the sole metro in the program with no winning bidder. Colony Capital, LLC purchased 970 properties in Los Angeles and Riverside, California; Phoenix, Arizona; and Las Vegas, Nevada, the agency revealed Thursday. In a statement Monday, C.A.R. said, ""Fannie Mae and FHFA’s decision to move forward with the REO bulk sale in California amounts to another gift to Wall Street at the expense of taxpayers.""

The mortgage market may be the largest market for consumer finance, but the sector lacks a comprehensive national database, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). This is why the federal agencies are coming together to create a national mortgage database. Borrower profiles, payment history, and the mortgage product and terms will be included in the database, which will be updated monthly.

The projected taxpayer cost to preserve the profitability of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is lower now that the GSEs are not expected to draw from Treasury to pay dividends and home prices are increasing, according to a report from the Federal Housing Finance Agency. So far, the GSEs have drawn $187.5 billion from Treasury. When assessing potential Treasury draws under three different scenarios, FHFA projects Treasury draws will range from $191 billion to $209 billion at the end of 2015, or an additional $3 to $22 billion in support.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency's (FHFA) House Price Index (HPI) continued its upward crawl in August, rising 0.7 percent from July, according to a release from the agency. For the 12 months ending in August, home prices in the United States rose 4.7 percent. The August index is down 15.9 percent from its peak in April 2007 and is at roughly the same level as June 2004's index.