The Federal Home Loan Banks increased their support for affordable housing in 2016 by 15 percent, according to a new report released this month by the Federal Housing Finance Agency. The report highlights FHLBank low-income housing and community development activities from last year. In all, the FHLBanks helped close to 40,000 low or moderate-income households, including approximately 22,000 very low-income households, become homeowners. Under the program, FHLBank members apply to their bank for Affordable Housing Program funds. Those funds can then be utilized to buy, construct, or rehabilitate affordable housing. The funds can come in the form of either a grant or a subsidized interest rate advance from an FHLBank to its member.
On the heels of the Equifax data breach fiasco, the Federal Housing Finance Agency was deemed ineffective when it comes to supervising the GSEs on cybersecurity risks, according to a recent report from the agency’s Office of Inspector General. In a previous report, the OIG asked the FHFA to examine policies about how Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac manage their cyber risks and address vulnerabilities. It noted that the GSEs store, process and transmit significant amounts…
The Federal Housing Finance Agency published two reports last week, including a 2018 annual performance plan for overseeing the GSEs and the FHLBanks in 2018, which includes talk of the common securitization platform.The performance plan supports the FHFA’s long-range strategic plan, also released last week, and includes goals, performance measures and targets, and strategies to accomplish those goals. The regulator is charged with three goals that center on safety and soundness of the regulated entities, along with ensuring liquidity and access in housing finance and managing the conservatorships. The goals and strategies haven’t changed much from the performance plan this year, other than the goal for the single security.
Freddie Simplifies Creation of Giant PCs. Late this week, Freddie Mac announced that it is adding new features to Dealer Direct, its online securitization portal, which will make it easier and faster for dealers to create customized Giant participation certificates. The new Dealer Direct Giant bulk upload feature allows dealers to upload proposed collateral for multiple Giants in a single collateral submission. A unique identifier is used to designate collateral for each Giant. Dealers also now have the option to upload a list of fixed-rate and/or adjustable-rate mortgage collateral without designating securities to specific Giants. Dealer Direct will analyze the individual securities and sort them into the largest possible Giant-eligible groups.
Purchase-mortgage activity in the GSE market surged 21.5 percent higher in the third quarter – and Fannie recorded a whopping 35.9 percent jump in such business…
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