Republicans are poised to introduce a bill that would codify reforms of the GSEs that have been completed administratively. The bill would also establish a utility model framework for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and alter how calculations are made to annual changes in loan limits.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac appear to be using aggressive pricing at the cash window to boost whole loan purchases, then retaining the most attractive coupons.
FHFA quietly increased the cap on the GSEs’ holdings of agency MBS from $40 billion apiece to $225 billion. That’s the same as the cap on their entire retained mortgage portfolios.