Tag Archives: Fannie Mae

Fannie Mae's book of business shrank for the sixth straight month in May as the enterprise's mortgage portfolio continued its decline. In its monthly volume summary, Fannie revealed its total book of business contracted at a compound rate of 2.4 percent in May, slightly slower than April's negative growth rate of 2.7 percent. Year-to-date, the book has seen an average annualized negative growth rate of 2.3 percent.

As scrutiny continues to grow in the servicing arena, the watchdog for the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) says it has concerns about non-bank servicers working with GSE loans. Out of the 30 largest servicers, FHFA OIG says that non-banks held a 17 percent share of mortgage market as of the end of 2013, representing nearly $1.7 trillion. As a result, the report says these non-bank companies may have taken on more volume than they can handle.

A new report from the inspector general for the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) urges the agency to "assess the merits of litigation" in dealing with servicers and providers accused of abusing lender-placed insurance practices. In 2012, lender-placed insurance issues cost Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac a combined $360 million, the report says.

The latest economic forecast from Fannie Mae shows that the underwhelming performance of the economy in the first three months of the year and a shrinking GDP have significantly dulled the optimism economists once had for the overall 2014 economy. Fannie stated that the rough U.S. first quarter has caused its Economic & Strategic Research Group to reduce 2014 economic growth expectations.

Given that nearly all the news about the homebuying market these past few years has focused on tight markets, lower-than-expected activity, and mortgages that keep circling the drain, it may seem easy to overlook a basic question—is anyone buying second homes these days? As it turns out, yes.

Despite earning record incomes in 2013, neither Fannie nor Freddie are in the clear financially yet, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) said in its latest review of the two GSEs. "The Enterprises remain exposed to credit, counterparty and operational risks. Credit risk management remains a key priority for both Enterprises given their substantial amount of remaining legacy distressed assets and ongoing stress in certain housing markets," FHFA said.

Speaking before an audience at the National Housing Conference Annual Policy Symposium in Washington, D.C., Mary Miller, the Department of the Treasury's undersecretary for domestic finance, painted a grim picture of housing finance as it stands, noting any perceived health at the GSEs has been the result of circumstances that wouldn't be matched in the private market.

A new blog post from the Urban Institute asserts recent numbers on loan denial rates for minorities weren't too high; rather, they may have been too low. Using HMDA data, the group examined the credit profiles of applicants, noting that the denial rate really only matters for weaker credit profile applicants—they are more likely to get denied.

Consumers' attitudes about housing diminished somewhat last month as economic worries weighed on their minds, according to new survey results from Fannie Mae. "While recent housing activity suggests that the worst of the housing slump may be behind us, this caution among consumers supports our expectation that the rebound in home sales will likely be too modest to pull sales for all of 2014 ahead of last year," Doug Duncan, chief economist.

Fannie Mae's book of business shrank again in April, continuing an uninterrupted streak of declines that started at the end of 2013. According to the enterprise's volume summary report, the book's total value contracted in April at a compound negative growth rate of 2.7 percent. As of April 30, the book's value was an estimated $3.14 trillion.