Even a relatively modest increase in interest rates is likely to have a disproportionate impact on the ability of high debt-to-income households to qualify for GSE loans, according to a recent report by Wells Fargo Securities Structured Products Research.
The average guarantee fee charged by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac was unchanged at 56 basis points in 2017, according to an annual report from the Federal Housing Finance Agency.
In what’s become a nearly annual event, the Congressional Budget Office this week suggested raising the guarantee fees charged by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and/or lowering the loan limit, in order to reduce the federal deficit.
“Securitization is the false god that failed us.” These are the words of Mark Calabria, the conservative economist whom the Trump administration nominated last week as director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, replacing Mel Watt, whose term ends in January.
There are no surprises in the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s 2019 scorecard, which outlines its conservatorship priorities over the coming year for Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and their joint venture Common Securitization Solutions. The report underscores goals dating from the FHFA’s 2014 strategic plan.
On Friday, just two days before the Congress recessed for the holidays, House Committee on Financial Services Chairman Jeb Hensarling, R-TX, surprised industry observers by holding the long-delayed hearing on his pet project, “The Bipartisan Housing Finance Reform Act of 2018.”
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