Tag Archives: Fannie Mae

The macroeconomic picture in the U.S. continues to battle economic headwinds—namely a September jobs report that came in below expectations and an appreciating dollar which will pressure the already growing U.S. trade deficit, Fannie Mae said. Yet, housing remains in a fairly positive zone, considering all of the factors weighing it down.

The conservatorships were required by law to put Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in a “sound and solvent condition” but this focus at times conflicted with other public policy objectives, such as the aggressive enforcement of the GSEs of “representations and warranties” whereby the firms “put back” large volumes of defaulted mortgages to their originators, according to the authors.

Swann and his team wrote in a report to clients that the impasse among lawmakers as to the future of the GSEs, the fact that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have been profitable since 2012, and the near recovery of most housing markets have made the privatization of the GSEs or any type of reform unlikely for the foreseeable future.

Fannie Mae's NPL transactions require the loan owner to market the property exclusively to owner-occupants and non-profits before offering it to investors when foreclosure cannot be prevented.

The new policies, sent in a letter to sellers and servicers, are expected it go into effect January 1, 2016, at the direction of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA).

With July's total of nearly 20,000 foreclosure prevention actions, the Enterprises have now completed 3.56 million such actions since the start of the conservatorship in September 2008, according to FHFA.

The index showed that four of the six components questioned posted net positive gains. The Good Time to Sell component increased 13 points in September compared to the prior month, with 52 percent indicating that it was a good time to sell, up five percentage points from last month.

According to a recent report from the FHFA Office of the Inspector General, however, the Agency's budget review and approval process has fallen short of achieving that stated purpose due to a number of factors that include late timing, cursory-level analysis, and inadequate resources.

The event highlighted GSE reform and conservatorship, the need for more private capital in the financial system and to transfer risk away from taxpayers and GSEs, focusing on risk sharing, specifically “front-end,” which makes housing finance more sustainable.

REO inventory for the GSEs totaled about 88,000 at the end of Q2, a decline of 14 percent from the end of Q1 (about 102,000) and 34 percent from the end of Q2 2014 (134,000), according to FHFA.