Fannie and Freddie pared back their portfolio holdings designated to support future business in the third quarter. Earnings were down from an eight-year high reached in the second quarter. (Includes data chart.)
Issuers are still stocking non-agency MBS with GSE-eligible mortgages for investment properties. Lenders and issuers are considering their options following a suspension of limitations placed on the GSEs.
Some of the Trump-era restrictions placed on the GSEs have been put on hold for at least a year. That includes a cap on acquisitions of mortgages for investment properties.
The blueprint would reverse capital requirements set in December, which offered few incentives for the GSEs to complete credit-risk transfer transactions.
Fannie and Freddie, the linchpin of the nation’s MBS market, may never get out of conservatorship. Right? Actually, they might. A pending risk-based capital rule could play a role in the drama.
Industry insiders are speculating whether former FHFA Director Mark Calabria delayed the release of the 2020 stress tests results because they contradicted his proposed capital rule.