Freddie Mac has jumped on the extended-amortization bandwagon with the launch of a new 40-year fixed-rate mortgage program. The new 40-year program, outlined in Bulletin 2006-3, will allow the government-sponsored enterprise to compete in a segment of the market that many observers expect will grow dramatically in the months ahead, as issuers shift their product mixes away from interest-only loans to avoid the problems associated with payment shock. The fixed-rate feature is important because borrowers are expected to increasingly...