Fannie Mae

The potential impacts of import tariffs cloud the outlook, though, and could lead mortgage rates to surge and fall throughout the coming year.

Fannie Mae set aside $752 million for credit losses in its apartment complex lending business in part because of fraud or suspected fraud, denting profits amid an industrywide scrutiny of borrowers. 

The enterprise failed to improve on its net income but did report a steady profit, and got closer to meeting minimum risk-based regulatory capital requirements.

Spreads for Fannie Mae current coupon mortgage bonds, a proxy for securities being created now, jumped 0.07 percentage point to 1.41 percentage point, on track for the most widening in a day since April.

A Fannie Mae survey-high 86% of prospective buyers said it was a bad time to buy a home in May.

A financial services veteran, Peter Akwaboah joins the government-sponsored enterprise after serving as a managing director for Morgan Stanley, where he led technology and innovation strategy.

December's shift in Federal Reserve policy gave a notable boost to the share of consumer respondents who think the affordability of home financing will improve.

The mortgages are part of a program that received congressional scrutiny earlier this year.

An economic slowdown would deliver lower interest rates but tighter credit standards, while a "soft landing" for the economy wouldn't solve the low inventory problem, a new report said.

A vast majority of the pool, 86.35%, consists of primary homes. Investment properties and secondary homes, meanwhile, account for 11.29% and 2.36% of the collateral.