Hugh Frater and Don Layton speculate on the likelihood a second Trump administration can get Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac out of conservatorship.

Treasury and FHFA agreed on some guidelines for how the process of getting the GSEs out of conservatorship will work. But they didn’t set that process in motion.

Ginnie MBS issuance outpaced the GSEs beginning in 2022, a trend that holds to this day. (Includes two data tables.)

Some industry groups are calling for a legislative solution to ending the conservatorships; others say FHFA and Treasury can do it themselves.

Although Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac failed to reach their multifamily volume caps in 2022, 2023 and probably 2024, FHFA raised the caps from $140 billion to $146 billion for 2025.

The reduction in fees for mortgages on homes that qualify for the GSEs’ housing goals are estimated to increase Fannie and Freddie acquisitions by 37,000 loans in 2025.

The far-reaching impacts of shifting from Classic FICO to a combination of FICO 10 T and VantageScore 4.0 have lenders worried about customer relations and fair lending problems.

Affordable housing and community development advocates say taxpayers aren’t getting enough for the government subsidy of the FHLBanks. The FHLBanks say critics misunderstand their federal support.

Nonbanks of all sizes, except for HFAs, lost market share to all types of depositories. Even so, the rankings of the top 10 GSE sellers barely changed in the third quarter. (Includes two data tables.)

Although a Republican victory in November might revive efforts to release the GSEs from conservatorship, this would likely be a multi-year effort, according to the former FHFA director.