With house prices rising over the past few years, as many as 15 million homeowners appear to be underestimating how much equity they’re actually sitting on, according to a new analysis released this week from Fannie Mae. The percent of homeowners estimated by CoreLogic to have significant home equity was much higher than the percent who actually perceived themselves as having equity in Fannie consumer surveys. The government-sponsored enterprise attributes this to a lack of access to credible home value equity tools coupled with a lack of knowledge on the homeowner’s part. This means...
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac both reported significant increases in net income during the second quarter based largely on hefty gains on their hedging activities. The two government-sponsored enterprises earned a combined $8.81 billion during the second quarter, up from just $2.41 billion for the first three months of 2015. As a result, the Treasury Department will sweep a combined $8.26 billion from Fannie and Freddie into its coffers. Rising interest rates played...