As of Jan. 1, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will for the first time be able to purchase one-unit single-family loans worth more than $1 million.

Tight spreads in the money markets keep some liquidity in the to-be-announced market.

The new social index methodology gives investors a rigorous, pool-based measure of the social impact of the mortgage-backed securities issued by the enterprises.

Sales of refinance loans plummeted to the lowest level in at least eight years. But purchase-mortgage sales had a bad month too. (Includes two data charts.)

The disclosures are planned to begin in December.

Amid declining volumes, the largest and smallest lenders who sell to the GSEs lost market share while large and mid-sized lenders got a bigger piece of the pie. (Includes two data charts.)

New scoring methodology might make it easier for investors to evaluate Fannie social bonds.

The former FHFA director said, given the Federal Reserve’s commitment to fight inflation, home prices could fall by double digits in percentage terms over the next few years.

Conservative economist Douglas Holtz-Eakin said the Federal Reserve’s exit from the MBS market is helping drive up interest rates in the affordable housing space. The remedy, he said, is GSE reform.

WI certificates are expected to become the primary way for investors to acquire the A-M and A-2 classes of Freddie’s signature K-deals.