Tag Archives: Freddie Mac

Fixed mortgage rates stopped their downward fall and headed back up for the first time in four weeks, according to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey.

Freddie Mac recently released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS), finding that average fixed mortgage rates continue to drop as economic uncertainty pushed Treasury yields lower.

Freddie Mac's net income soared for the second quarter of 2015, totaling $4.2 billion—nearly nine times the GSE's Q1 net income of $524 million, according to an announcement from Freddie Mac on Tuesday.

Interest rates on conventional purchase-money mortgages and home loan amounts increased from May to June, according to Federal Housing Finance Agency indices of new mortgage contracts.

Recent survey data from Fannie Mae's Economic & Strategic Research group found that many mortgage lenders are still applying credit overlays that are stricter than what Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae, or Ginnie Mae require.

The House Financial Services Committee has announced that proposed legislation to cap the salaries of CEOs at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac has advanced to the markup phase, which will take place in the Committee on Tuesday, July 28.

New low down payment initiatives extend homeownership opportunities to qualified borrowers who might otherwise be locked out. According to Freddie Mac's July U.S. Housing Market Insight & Outlook, pre-crisis low payment underwriting allowed layered risk, while post-crisis low payment underwriting controls credit risk by requiring features that reduce risk. Pre-crisis payments were variable, while post-crisis payments are predictable.

A ruling in the Federal Claims Court on Tuesday made by Judge Margaret Sweeney will force the U.S. Treasury to disclose all of Fannie Mae’s and Freddie Mac’s conservatorship documents. Over 10,000 discovery documents will be released to the United States District Court of Appeals in Washington D.C. and the United States District Court. Fairholme Funds made the request in court against the GSEs, claiming that their investor ownership stake was taken unlawfully from them by the government when the conservatorship occurred. Fairholme's efforts are a step toward getting their ownership stake returned to them.

Freddie Mac recently announced the election of Lance F. Drummond as a director on the company's board. Drummond, age 60, is a senior business leader with extensive experience specializing in business transforming strategy development and execution, operations, technology, and process re-engineering.

While there has been a massive amount of conversation about the future roles of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the conversation often fails to address what these GSEs' government mortgage programs do for the mortgage market. Urban Institute recently released a report, identifying how programs like the Federal Housing Administration, the Department of Veteran’s Affairs, and the Government National Mortgage Association impact the mortgage market.