Industry trade groups as well as analysts believe the proposed waiver pilot is purely a political gesture and will, in fact, expose borrowers and lenders to financial risk.

The FHLBanks, like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, have a public/private structure that can incentivize private profits at public cost. Don Layton, former Freddie CEO, said the banks are ripe for reform.

Outstanding advances were down for the year after a surge in the first quarter.

FHFA said changes to the survey will help to inform its oversight of the GSEs and Federal Home Loan Banks.

One researcher concluded that state-level media coverage can help predict the movement in home prices.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac accounted for 44.1% of all mortgage originations in 2023, compared with 48.6% in 2022 and more than 58% in both 2021 and 2020.

All 11 regional FHLBanks boosted profits in 2023, largely due to increased borrowing from member institutions during the banking crisis.

Mortgage industry stakeholders said Freddie Mac’s pilot program to alleviate repurchase requests is a better option than Fannie Mae’s new notice of potential defect.

Title insurance advocates are incensed by FHFA’s announcement that a once-dead title waiver pilot is alive and well.

Lenders will now be able to use a single verification report to validate income, employment, assets, positive rent payment and cash flow history. However, the report must have at least 12 months of data.