Tag Archives: Freddie Mac

House lawmakers have introduced a bipartisan plan that would replace Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac with a group of private firms to fill the role of issuing government-guaranteed mortgage-backed securities. The bill's authors say it would not only protect taxpayers but would ensure financing for home loans and products like the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage remain available to middle-class families. Market observers say the proposal is the only one so far that could win sufficient support from both sides of the aisle.

Mortgage rates have fallen to their lowest mark in 2011 after declining for the fourth consecutive week, further reducing the costs associated with taking out a home loan. Freddie Mac says the 30-year fixed-rate is now averaging 4.63 percent, while the 15-year rate is at 3.82 percent. ARM rates also headed lower. Economists say the continued fall in home loan rates make a mortgage cheaper than renting.

Freddie Mac's economists see some positive signs for housing in terms of affordability and low mortgage rates, but extended unemployment dampens the forecast. The average duration of unemployment was just over 38 weeks in April. The GSE says the large number of workers unemployed for a long period remains the predominant force behind seriously delinquent mortgages. According to Freddie Mac, the economy needs to add over 250,000 new jobs per month, on a sustained basis, to reabsorb all the jobs lost since the recession.

Berkadia Commercial Mortgage has added three key executives to its ranks within the last few weeks. Industry veteran Luther Peacock has joined the company as chief risk officer. Stephannie Mower has been named managing director and will lead the company's newly launched Investment Client Services business. And Mortgage banker Mike Duggan has joined Berkadia's St. Louis office, which is the center of operations for its HUD and Federal Housing Administration (FHA) platform.

Interest rates on home loans have dropped across the board for the third consecutive week. Freddie Mac reports that the average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage this week slipped enough to match its lowest mark in 2011 at 4.71 percent, while the 15-year rate fell to 3.89 percent, a new yearly low.

The nation's second largest mortgage company reported Wednesday that it pulled in net income of $676 million during the first three months of this year. Freddie Mac closed the quarter with positive net worth of $1.2 billion. As a result, no additional funding from Treasury was required for the first quarter of 2011. It's the first time since the fourth quarter of 2009 that the company has not needed to draw on taxpayer support. REO dispositions reached record levels in the first quarter with approximately 30,000 homes sold.

Freddie Mac said Monday that its full menu of relief policies for borrowers affected by disaster is being extended to homeowners whose homes were damaged or destroyed by the recent storms in the South and are located in counties that the president has declared to be major disaster areas. The GSE says it has instructed its servicers to work with borrowers with Freddie Mac-owned mortgages affected by these storms to grant forbearance on their mortgage payments for up to one year.

Fannie Mae has released new details on its book of business, which shows the share of mortgages it owns or guarantees that's past due by three months or longer has been on a steady decline for a year now. The nation's largest mortgage company reported that its seriously delinquent rate on single-family mortgage loans slipped to 4.44 percent in February of this year. That's down just 1 basis point from 4.45 percent in January, but it marks the 12th straight month that the rate has decreased.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are issuing new guidelines to servicers in order to align their procedures for handling past-due mortgages. The objective is to ensure consistent servicing requirements for loans handled on behalf of the GSEs across four key areas: borrower contact, delinquency management practices, loan modifications, and foreclosure timelines. The new approach provides monetary incentives for servicers that perform well and imposes fines on those that do not.

Mortgage interest rates have retreated for the second week in a row, according to a market report released Thursday by Freddie Mac. Frank Nothaft, the GSE's chief economist, says rates followed Treasury bond yields lower this week amid weak economic data on local business conditions and another disappointing home price report. The 30-year fixed-rate stands at 4.78 percent; the 15-year fixed at 3.97 percent, its lowest mark since December 9, 2010.