The Federal Housing Finance Agency finalized its 2018-2022 strategic plan this week. A draft proposal of the plan was released back in October for public input. The long-range plan focuses on three strategic goals surrounding issues of safety and soundness of the GSEs; ensuring liquidity, stability and access in housing finance; and managing the conservatorship. When identifying risk in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the FHFA said it plans to carefully document and communicate any adverse examination findings and conclusions to the GSEs.
Ginnie Mae would become the linchpin of the conventional secondary mortgage market of the future, providing an explicit government guarantee for MBS issued by one of several new entities, under a plan being drafted by Senate Republicans.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac had one of their slowest quarters ever in new credit-risk transfer deals late in 2017, but ended the year with record output all the same.
The National Association of Realtors this week asked the regulator of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to lower the MBS guarantee fees charged by the two government-sponsored enterprises, citing lower corporate tax rates ushered in under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.
Freddie Mac is offering a new cash benefit to sellers of loans that fall in a narrow band of loan sizes that typically are used for specified MBS pools. The new category targeted for cash deliveries are 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with loan amounts ranging from $175,000 to $200,000.