By eliminating its bank holding company, Flagstar Bank will drop the Federal Reserve as a regulator.

Hugh Frater, a former CEO of Fannie Mae, warned that merging the GSEs could reduce incentives for innovation and competition on pricing, among other issues.

Refi business could spike by upwards of 70% next year thanks to expectations for lower interest rates, according to economists at Fannie Mae.

The Commerce secretary says a year-end offering of GSE stock is still possible.

“Some house hunters are staying on the sidelines because they want mortgage rates to drop more significantly before jumping in,” Redfin said.

The regulator, though, says no market participant can account for more than 20% of the GSEs' servicing market.

Freddie Mac credit insurance increases raised the numbers for both GSEs in the second quarter.

The Trump administration is describing The Great American Mortgage Corp. as "the all new Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac: bigger and better than ever."

“Ultimately the goal is to continue to find ways to do more at a lower cost,” said one large unidentified lender surveyed by Fannie.

The FHFA director said the Trump administration's planned sale of GSE stock would be small, if it happened at all.