By Carrie Bay | 08/25/2010
Home prices in the U.S. rose in the second quarter of 2010, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA). The regulator's purchase-only house price index (HPI) is calculated using sales price data from Fannie Mae- and Freddie Mac-acquired mortgages, and last quarter was the first time since Q2 2007 that the HPI posted a quarterly increase. The index was 0.9 percent higher on a seasonally adjusted basis in the second quarter than in the first quarter of 2010.
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By Carrie Bay | 08/20/2010
Members of the U.S. House of Representatives are calling on President Obama and the GSEs' regulator to "use all of [their] powers to recover money" from companies that shifted losses on to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
They say legal action should be used to recoup funds from the underwriters of faulty mortgages and the issuers of underwater securities that have saddled Fannie and Freddie with hundreds of billions of dollars in bad loans and cost taxpayers almost $150 billion to date.
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By Carrie Bay | 08/13/2010
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) has proposed the establishment of an Office of the Ombudsman to field complaints related to FHFA's regulations and supervision. The Office of the Ombudsman would be responsible for considering grievances and appeals from entities overseen by FHFA, including Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Federal Home Loan Banks, as well as any person that has a business relationship with a regulated entity or the Office of Finance.
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By Carrie Bay | 08/12/2010
The Federal Housing Finance Agency wants to restrict Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from purchasing mortgages with private transfer fee covenants, also referred to as Wall Street home resale fees.
These fees are sometimes worked into home purchase contracts, and require that a percentage of the sale price be paid to the original owner of the property every time the property is sold, typically for 99 years. FHFA says "the fees fund purely private streams of income for select market participants and do not benefit homeowners."
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By Carrie Bay | 08/09/2010
Freddie Mac reported Monday that it lost $4.7 billion during the second quarter. The GSE is asking the Treasury for another $1.8 billion of taxpayer dollars. Freddie has drawn $64 billion from its line of credit with the Treasury since the government took control of the mortgage giant in September 2008.
Despite a continuous string of losses - this was the 11th in the last 12 quarters - Freddie Mac's latest earnings report actually marks an improvement. For the previous three-month period, the GSE posted a $6.7 billion loss.
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By Carrie Bay | 08/06/2010
Leaders of the House Financial Services Committee say they are looking for ways to recoup the billions of dollars the federal government has sunk into the GSEs over the past two years. Taxpayer support to shore up Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac stands at $145 billion so far, and the tab keeps rising. Rep. Paul Kanjorski says, "Twenty years ago, we found a way for industry to pay back the sizable U.S. Treasury payments for resolving the savings-and-loan crisis. We can do it again."
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