"What Fannie and Freddie and the FHFA should be doing is trying to convince Congress it’s time to get them out of conservatorship," said James Lockhart, the former director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

All lender types, except HFAs and credit unions, saw GSE deliveries decline in the fourth quarter. For HFAs, that meant a spike in market share, albeit from a low starting point. (Includes two data tables.)

The former FHFA director says Congress will never act, but that the GSEs should create subsidiaries, then complete an initial public offering to get out of government control.

Small depositories warn changes at the FHLBs could increase members’ costs and reduce access to FHLB funding. Worse, these changes could take place without formal rulemaking.

Conservatives argue that the government subsidy of the FHLBanks doesn’t support housing and mostly benefits large banks rather than homeowners.

Thousands of stakeholders responded to FHFA’s RFI on the prospect of the GSEs establishing tenant protections for the multifamily properties they back. Most respondents were tenants.

The limits on Fannie’s and Freddie’s annual investment in low-income housing tax credit programs has jumped from $850 million to $1 billion each.

Freddie executed its first five-year K-deals since 2016 and its first single-asset single-borrower securities in two years.

Alberto Musalem, a director on the Freddie Mac board, will soon have a seat at the table of the Federal Open Market Committee.

Measured by profits per employee, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are among the most successful companies on the planet.