Tag Archives: Freddie Mac

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac may have lost billions of dollars as a result of borrowing rate manipulation, according to a report from the Office of the Inspector General of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA-OIG). The banking world was rocked in late June as it was revealed that traders at Barclays spent years rigging the London Interbank Offered Rate (Libor), a global interest rate at which banks lend money to each other. As those probes continue, the Wall Street Journal is now reporting Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac may have sustained more than $3 billion in losses from the rate-rigging.

Mortgage rates went in both directions this week as investors mulled over recently released data on inflation and housing construction. According to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 3.37 percent, up from the previous week's 3.32 percent. On the other hand, the 15-year fixed fell one basis point to 2.65 percent. Bankrate's weekly national survey of mortgage rates saw its biggest week-to-week increase since March, with the benchmark 30-year fixed averaging 3.62 percent--a 10-basis point jump.

Freddie Mac CFO Ross J. Kari is making plans to retire in the second half of 2013, the GSE announced. While Kari has not yet selected an official date to depart from Freddie Mac, he informed the company he intends to retire in the latter half of the year following his 55th birthday.

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) has assembled a GSE Single Family Task Force to revisit the association's 2009 proposal for the future of the secondary market and to further discourse on this topic. The task force will work in two phases. First, they will review the 2009 position and determine potential issues during a transition. Next, they will put together a ""roadmap"" for the transition. MBA's 2009 proposal supports government participation in the mortgage market, but a limited one. The announcement of the new GSE Single Family Task Force comes on the heels of a white paper published by ""MBA's Multifamily Task Force.

FHFA is directing both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to work together with the agency on developing industry-wide servicing data standards, according to updates from the GSEs. The news standards are a component of the Uniform Mortgage Data Program (UMDP) and will go by the name Uniform Mortgage Servicing Dataset (UMSD).

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) isn't doing enough to monitor compensation for senior professionals at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the Office of the Inspector General (FHFA-OIG) suggests in a new report. While the FHFA has increased its monitoring on executive pay, its oversight of non-executive compensation has been relatively limited, according to the report. For example, payment for executives was brought down from 2010 to 2011, but compensation for senior professionals actually increased in those years.

With about one-third of the American population residing in rental housing with climbing rents even despite largely stagnant incomes, the Center for American Progress argues for continued participation of the federal government in the multifamily housing market. Specifically, the organization supports a federal guarantee on multifamily mortgages. CAP says the Federal Housing Finance Agency ""appears poised to pursue plans to privatize the multifamily mortgage market."" However, CAP says doing so would ""be a big mistake.""

Freddie Mac made suggestions on what housing might look like in 2013 in its December outlook report. Overall, the GSE expects to see a continuation of positive trends. For one, property values should still rise into the next year and are likely to increase by 2 to 3 percent, Freddie Mac reported. The market should also see more households, with household formation expected to expand from a net 1.20 million to 1.25 million households.

In prepared remarks delivered before SIFMA members Thursday, Federal Finance Housing Agency (FHFA) Acting Director Edward DeMarco addressed the current state of the secondary mortgage market and the agency’s steps toward building a better market for the future. Part of the process of improving the market is by bringing the ""conservatorships to a conclusion,"" while strengthening the private sector's role in housing finance, DeMarco contended. As it now stands, DeMarco said, ""The secondary mortgage market infrastructure that served this country for many years is broken.""

Fixed mortgage rates stayed relatively calm this week as economic indicators showed improved strength, according to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey. The 30-year fixed averaged 3.34 percent (0.7 point) for the week ending December 6, up from the previous week's average of 3.32 percent. This week's average is only three basis points up from the survey's record low (achieved the week ending November 21). While Freddie Mac's survey showed increases in fixed rates, Bankrate's weekly survey saw them slipping to new lows.