In six weeks, Mel Watt will officially step down as director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, a change that is ripe with ramifications for the secondary mortgage market, including speculation regarding lower loan limits for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac extended disaster relief provisions to areas in California that have been ravaged by wildfires and declared major disaster areas by President Trump.
It’s now possible for homebuyers to use sweat equity to pay their entire downpayment and all closing costs as Freddie Mac has expanded the parameters of its Home Possible mortgage.
At the direction of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have simplified policies on short sales and deed-in-lieu of foreclosures. The new policies are intended to mitigate losses for the government-sponsored enterprises and servicers by spelling out when servicers can consider borrowers for these actions and what documentation is necessary.
Fannie Mae’s and Freddie Mac’s loan-loss reserves could be substantially impacted by a new accounting standard that requires companies to immediately book potential losses.
The Federal Home Loan Bank System last week sold $4.0 billion in bonds with rates tied to the Secured Overnight Financing Rate. SOFR is the designated heir to the soon-to-be-retired London Interbank Offered Rate.
Moelis & Co. last week released an updated version of its “Blueprint for Restoring Safety and Soundness to the GSEs” that calls for recapitalizing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac immediately.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac say they support the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s proposal to include a leverage ratio on their future capital requirements.
Increasingly, it looks as though Mark Calabria, chief economist to Vice President Mike Pence, is the leading candidate to head the Federal Housing Finance Agency once Mel Watt’s term expires in January.
RSS