After starting 2015 with a net decline in supply of outstanding single-family mortgage securities, the market began to rally and ended the year with a modest gain. A new analysis by Inside MBS & ABS reveals that total residential MBS in the market reached $6.412 trillion at the end of last year, an 0.5 percent increase from the third quarter and up 1.0 percent from yearend 2014. The growing supply of residential MBS slightly outpaced the 0.3 percent increase in home mortgage debt outstanding, resulting in a 64.2 percent securitization rate in the fourth quarter. There are...[Includes two data tables]
The Federal Housing Finance Agency this week filed a request to transfer lawsuits brought by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac shareholders in four district courts to the U.S. District Court in Washington. The government-sponsored enterprise regulator hopes to ward off future “copycat” cases and those where plaintiffs may be encouraged to “shop” for the best forum, based on the ruling. FHFA said it is certain that the number of pending complaints challenging the quarterly U.S. Treasury sweep of Fannie and Freddie net income will continue to grow. As a result, the agency said the transfer would be more efficient and benefit the parties and courts. “The claims and relief sought in each of the four related cases are...
Republicans on Capitol Hill this past week expressed dismay with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac recently transferring $180 million into federal affordable housing programs. In fact, 10-K filings by the two government-sponsored enterprises indicate Fannie has paid $217 million, and Freddie has turned over $165 million for a total of $382 million. By law, both GSEs are required...
When the two GSEs were losing money earlier in the decade, then-Acting FHFA Director Edward DeMarco suspended the contributions before any had ever been made.
The rash of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac buyback demands that ravaged the mortgage industry a few years ago continued to ease in the fourth quarter of 2015, according to a new Inside Mortgage Trends analysis of repurchase disclosures by the two government-sponsored enterprises. And although the focus of new GSE buyback demands continues to shift to newer books of business, Freddie still reports a relatively high volume of ... [Includes two data charts]
The government-sponsored enterprises accounted for the bulk of financing for mortgages on condominiums and co-op units in 2015, according to a new Inside Mortgage Trends analysis of loan-level disclosures from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, along with data from the FHA. Some $76.01 billion in agency condo/co-op mortgages were funded in 2015, with the GSEs accounting for 96.0 percent of the volume. Purchase mortgages ... [Includes one data chart]
The GSEs stopped investing in low income housing tax credits in 2008 and now the Federal Housing Finance Agency is contemplating whether to allow Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to resume LIHTC investing. While Fannie Mae is all for it, several affordable housing organizations express concern about the re-entry of the GSEs into the market. Fannie said its presence would enhance the stability of the LIHTC program and serve as a reliable source of capital for affordable housing in diverse economic cycles and markets. As an equity investor, the GSE explained that it will not displace private funding, but will instead look to balance the distribution of equity capital across the LIHTC market to include segments that still suffer from limited liquidity.
Combined operating expenses for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac increased by $1.1 billion between 2012 and 2015, according to a recent Federal Housing Finance Agency’s Office of Inspector General white paper, and most of the costs were driven by FHFA’s mandated initiatives. After the IG published a paper in September 2015 criticizing the regulator for not properly approving the GSEs’ budgets, due to late timing and inadequate analysis and resources, the IG decided to trace the increases to detail who spent what and where the bulk of the spending went. Fannie witnessed the largest net increase of 31 percent or $726 million. The company’s expenses rose from $2.366 billion in 2012 to an estimated $3.092 billion...
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