Fannie Mae last week notched its fifth Credit Insurance Risk Transfer transaction of the year, a $285 million deal covering a pool of 34,000 single-family mortgages.

Naa Awaa Tagoe, deputy director for housing mission and goals at FHFA, waded through some of the agency’s most recent controversies at the MBA’s secondary market conference.

Many trade groups denounced Freddie’s plan to buy second liens, saying key details were lacking. There are also concerns that Freddie’s effort will simply cannibalize an otherwise healthy and liquid non-agency market for second liens.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac this week announced enhancements to their flex modification programs. The primary aim is to ensure that modifications result in a 20% reduction in P&I payments.

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.

The Financial Stability Oversight Council last week endorsed FHFA’s years-long request for prudential regulatory authority over nonbank mortgage servicers.

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.