Tag Archives: Freddie Mac

The Federal Reserve's announcement confirming a third round of quantitative easing sent long-term mortgage rates tumbling to all-new record lows this week. Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey showed a drop in both the 30-year and 15-year fixed. According to the survey, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 3.49 percent (0.6 point) for the week ending September 20, down from 3.55 percent the week before. The 15-year FRM also fell this week, averaging 2.77 percent (0.6 point). The previous survey showed an average of 2.85 percent.

As an effort to reach more eligible borrowers, Fannie Mae and Fannie Mae announced updates to their refinance policies, one of which includes less documentation for income and assets.

Mortgage rates saw little change this week as investors await news from the Federal Open Markets Committee (FOMC) about a possible third round of quantitative easing. According to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 3.55 percent (0.6 point) for the week ending September 13, no different from the week before and only slightly above its all-time low achieved earlier in the summer.

The housing market is seeing signs of recovery, and this recovery may be bolstered by the new representation and warranty framework the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced Tuesday, according to Fitch. Relying on signing offers and home tours as a future indicator of home sales, Redfin, a technology-driven real estate broker, predicts the market improvement seen this summer will continue into the fall.

In the GSE's most recent U.S. Economic and Housing Market Outlook, Freddie Mac VP and chief economist Frank Nothaft looked at energy costs and their potential effects on the economic recovery. The U.S. Department of Energy reported that gas prices averaged $3.84 per gallon on September 3, up about $0.50 over the past two months. While rising energy costs can divert spending away from consumer goods, Nothaft said he isn't especially worried.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac new representations and warranty guidelines for lenders Tuesday to clarify lenders' risk regarding repurchase claims and define steps lenders can take to challenge repurchase claims they feel are without grounds. Under the new guidelines, if a loan is current for 36 consecutive months, lenders ""will be relieved of certain repurchase obligations,"" according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency, regulator of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

To repair, or not to repair. That was the question posed to a number of panelists Thursday morning at the Five Star Conference and Expo. The panel featured a discussion between GSE and field asset representatives as they tried to help brokers and servicers tackle a common issue: Whether or not it's worth the investment to repair a home not in showcase condition.

Amid uncertainty regarding another stimulus from the Fed, mortgage rates generally declined over the week last week. In his recent speech, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke left the door wide open for further stimulus, according to Bankrate.com. Freddie Mac Chief Economist Frank Nothaft reports mortgage rates ""were little changed"" overall last week. According to the GSE, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.55 percent (0.7 point), demonstrating a decline from both the previous week and last year. The rate the GSE reported the previous week was 3.59 percent.

Freddie Mac announced it has relief policies for borrowers impacted by Hurricane Isaac. The relief polices are specifically for Freddie Mac borrowers located in Louisiana and Mississippi jurisdictions declared by President Barack Obama as disaster areas.

Before the end of this year, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will raise guarantee fees (g-fees) on single-family mortgages by an average of 10 basis points. On Friday, FHFA announced it has directed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to increase g-fees as a step toward encouraging more mortgage market participation from private firms. The increase are scheduled to take effect on December 1 for loans exchanged for mortgage-backed securities and for loans sold for cash, the increases are scheduled for November 1, 2012.