Tag Archives: Freddie Mac

Releasing their earnings reports simultaneously, Fannie and Freddie reported first-quarter profits of $5.3 billion and $4.0 billion, respectively—a major step back from incomes reported last year but still a fair amount for what was a slow period for the housing market. Both enterprises have reported profits each quarter for more than two years straight.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Office of the Inspector General (OIG) performed an audit on the financial conditions of mortgage insurers used for loans purchased by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to assess their exposure to risk. The FHFA, as the regulator for Fannie and Freddie, provides oversight of the GSEs and contracted CohnReznick LLP to perform the audit.

News of worse-than-expected first-quarter economic growth brought fixed mortgage rates down this week, according to market reports. In its weekly Primary Mortgage Market Survey,Freddie Mac recorded the average 30-year fixed rate at 4.29 percent (0.7 point) for the week ending May 1, down from 4.33 percent. Last year, the 30-year rate was down at 3.35 percent.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), serving as the conservator of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, announced a settlement for $110 million with First Horizon National Corporation. The settlement resolves alleged violations of securities laws in connection with private-label mortgage-backed securities (PLS) purchased by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from 2005-2007.

Worst-case scenario: In the event of repeat of the 2008 economic downturn, the federal government’s main mortgage buyers, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac may need another $190 billion bailout to keep them solvent. So say the results of the inaugural Dodd-Frank Act Stress Test, released by the Federal Housing Finance Agency Wednesday.

Freddie Mac announced a new offering of Structured Pass-Through Certificates (K Certificates). The offering is backed primarily by fixed-rate multifamily mortgages with a 7-year term. "The company expects to offer approximately $1.2 billion in K Certificates (K-715 Certificates)," the company said.

A new report from Freddie Mac, the GSE’s latest monthly volume summary, found that the company’s mortgage portfolio has declined in each of the first three months of this year. The decline in March was the fastest annualized decline, and saw the total portfolio volume fall at a rate of 2.9 percent.

The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate came up to 4.33 percent (0.6 point) for the week ending April 24, up from 4.27 percent in the previous week, according to Freddie Mac’s latest Primary Mortgage Market Survey. Last year, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 3.40 percent, almost a full point lower. The 15-year FRM this week averaged 3.39 percent (0.6 point), moving up from 3.33 percent.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) released its monthly House Price Index (HPI) for February, revealing continued growth even as winter weather slowed the market. The broad measure of the movement of single-family home prices in this purchase-only index went up by .6 percent, and with the exception of November 2013, marked nearly two straight years of increases.

Freddie Mac released its U.S. Economic and Housing Market Outlook for April, noting that the housing market continues to be "noisy," giving mixed signals heading into Spring. The government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) did offer some specific market projections for the upcoming buying season.