Earlier this year, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told the Senate Banking Committee he has the authority to restructure Fannie and Freddie without any change in law.
As of Monday morning, none of the parties involved – FHFA, the FHFA IG, and the Council – were commenting to IMFnews. Nor were they denying the existence of an investigation.
July is usually a good month for agency MBS issuance when the housing market is strong. In 2018, the fundamentals just weren’t there. Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae guaranteed $101.39 billion of new single-family MBS last month, a disappointing 0.6 percent lower than in June. Purchase mortgages accounted for a substantial 74.4 percent of July issuance, although volume was up just 3.2 percent from June. The housing market ... [Includes two data charts]