A new advisory bulletin from the FHFA will require the GSEs to come up with comprehensive, actionable plans to deal with the impacts of climate change on housing finance.
Fannie and Freddie boast about their downpayment assistance and consumer education programs, key initiatives to help first-time homebuyers in a high-interest-rate, low-supply market.
High delinquency rates in the GSEs’ senior housing portfolios suggest that the sector still hasn’t recovered from the panic created by the pandemic. High interest rates and inflation haven’t helped.
Although FHLB borrowing declined in the first quarter, with lenders continuing to reduce outstanding advances, profits for the system as a whole were up 9.6% from the fourth quarter and 16.6% year to date. (Includes three data tables.)
The Financial Stability Oversight Council last week endorsed FHFA’s years-long request for prudential regulatory authority over nonbank mortgage servicers.
A coalition of trade groups has told FHFA that they can’t accurately compare new credit scores with old ones unless they have data going back prior to the financial crisis.
Among the questions raised is should FHFA continue to focus on how much liquidity FHLBanks provide for housing and community development or are there other components to FHLBank operations that deserve more attention.
FHFA and the Mortgage Bankers Association have asked legislators to exempt Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from new laws governing the use of automated underwriting systems and other artificial intelligence tools.
FHFA and its Office of Inspector General both missed the Bureau of Fiscal Service’s faulty calculation of the agency watchdog’s yearend payroll liability.