Freddie Mac

There is bipartisan agreement in the Senate that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are "too big to fail," but some lawmakers are skeptical that a SIFI designation is appropriate.

Although the performance of the government-sponsored enterprises' single-family loans continues to improve, the deeply delinquent totals remain significant in states with court-processed foreclosures.

The unrated notes being issued by the FREMF 2019-KG01 Mortgage Trust are backed entirely by workforce housing loans for green-friendly upgrades of older apartment buildings that fulfill affordable housing needs in communities.

As officials prepare plans for the government-sponsored enterprises' exit from conservatorship, there's no shortage of speculation about what those plans might look like and how they might affect the mortgage industry.

The little-known unit was launched in the wake of efforts by the CFPB and HUD to cut back on fair-lending activities, but the reach of the 10-month-old office is still unclear.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency has appeared willing to take its own steps to reform Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, but legislation would be necessary to create an explicit guarantee of the mortgage system.

Director Mark Calabria urged lawmakers to grant the agency chartering authority similar to that of bank regulators to boost competition in the mortgage market.

Prepayment speeds for loans included in agency mortgage-backed securities were up approximately 20% both monthly and annually during May as the decline in interest rates boosted activity, according to Keefe, Bruyette & Woods.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin was adamant that the Trump administration won’t just let Fannie and Freddie build up their capital buffers and then release the companies. He also said he backed an explicit government guarantee, something only Congress can do.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency has far more authority to upend the status quo than most realize, according to a new report.

The consolidation of the two companies' securitization platforms into a single bond market became official on Monday.

The nonconforming market is ready to absorb most of the government-sponsored enterprise loans covered by the QM patch, but not all of them, according Redwood Trust.

The launch of a combined securitization platform for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is meant to ease the transition to a new housing finance system. But questions remain about how the mortgage sphere will adapt to the single security.

Delinquencies associated with the government-sponsored enterprises high loan-to-value ratio programs that target low-to-moderate income homebuyers are slightly better than expected, at least early on, according to Fitch.

Government-sponsored enterprise executives say they want to continue to offer credit risk transfers and guarantee-fee parity after the GSEs are released from conservatorship, but they might not be able to.

Mark Calabria said he wants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to take preliminary steps by Jan. 1 toward exiting conservatorship.

His administration is looking at different alternatives to reform the housing finance system.

In his first public policy speech as director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, Mark Calabria stressed that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will have to raise significant capital via a public offering and take other steps in order to escape government control.

Investors can now exchange certain existing Freddie Mac bonds for to-be-announced uniform mortgage-backed securities in preparation for the full launch of UMBS next month.

Freddie Mac is now offering to buy a new form of manufactured housing loan with terms similar to that of conventional mortgages from all eligible lenders, following a test run last year.