Tag Archives: Freddie Mac

As the employment situation continues to raise concerns, fixed rates fell even lower, slipping yet again to new record-lows, according to a survey from Freddie Mac released Thursday. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.67 percent (0.7 point) for the week ending June 7, falling from last week's average of 3.75 percent. The 15-year fixed rate declined even further below 3 percent to 2.94 percent (0.7 point), down from last week's 2.97 percent.

Congress has already approved of raising Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac guarantee fees to support non-housing related initiatives once before. Now, lawmakers are contemplating the use of GSE guarantee fees to fund student loan relief. In response to this, officials from Nationwide Title Clearing sent a release asking Congress not to raid the real estate piggy bank, stating an increase will lead to higher interest rates.

The Community Mortgage Lenders of America (CMLA) released a white paper outlining its policy suggestions for the future of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Shrinking the GSEs role in the secondary market to 30-35 percent and preventing them from securitizing or investing into risky mortgages were among the ideas the trade group endorses. Still, the CMLA said it wants to see the GSEs remain intact due to uncertainty in the markets and to ensure further destabilization does not occur.

Tuesday's report showed that during the first quarter of 2012, the 60+ day delinquency rate for commercial and multifamily mortgages held in life insurance company portfolios decreased 0.03 percentage points to 0.14 percent. The 60+ day rate for multifamily loans held or insured by Fannie Mae also decreased, falling 0.22 percentage points to 0.37 percent. The 90+ day delinquency rate for loans held by FDIC-insured banks and thrifts dropped 0.13 percentage points to 3.44 percent.

Freddie Mac announced Friday that starting July 1, the GSE's Standard Modification interest rate will come down from 5 percent to 4.625 percent. The Standard Modification is for borrowers who do not qualify for the government's Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP). The modification makes payments more affordable by lowering a borrower's principal and interest payments by at least 10 percent. The modification includes a trial period as does HAMP to ensure borrowers can maintain modified mortgage payments.

The number of loans refinanced through HARP in the first quarter of 2012 was nearly double the number of refinances in the fourth quarter of 2011, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency's (FHFA) March 2012 Refinance Report. The report showed that 180,185 loans were refinanced through HARP during the year's first quarter, nearly twice the 93,190 refinances in the previous quarter. The month of March alone saw 79,470 loans refinanced with HARP, and nearly one in seven loan refinances in the quarter were done through program. The FHFA attributed most of this increase to the launch of HARP 2.0, an enhanced version of the program that eliminated loan-to-value (LTV) ceilings for borrowers.

Edward J. DeMarco, acting director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), announced Thursday the appointment of Wanda I. DeLeo as Deputy Director leading the newly created Office of Strategic Initiatives. DeLeo has served in several leadership roles at FHFA, including her most recent stint as Deputy Director for the agency's Division of Examination Programs and Support.

Following lower bond yields, the 15-year fixed fell below 3 percent, while the 30-year fixed set a new record-low as well, according to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage dropped to 3.75 percent (0.8 point) for the week ending May 31. The 15-year fixed slid into new territory, averaging 2.97 percent (0.7 point), down from 3.04 percent. A year ago at this time, the 15-year fixed stood at 3.74 percent.

The incentive comes as an extension of Freddie Mac's First Look Initiative, a program designed to stabilize communities and support housing recovery. The initiative offers owner-occupants, second purchasers, and neighborhood stabilization non-profits a chance to purchase HomeSteps homes for a brief period after listing with no competition from investors.

Freddie Mac released its U.S. Economic and Housing Market Outlook for May on Wednesday, pointing to the available data as an encouraging sign for housing and the economy in 2012-3. The release details information gathered about economic growth and housing markets over the first quarter of 2012. Although not all of the data is positive, the outlook stated that the data for the most part ""trend in the right direction.""