Tag Archives: Fannie Mae

In the latest of its consumer education videos, Zillow recently sat down with the Bipartisan Policy Center's (BPC) Barry Zigas to discuss the center's ideas for GSE reform.

While consumers are still "generally positive" on average about housing and the economy, attitudes over the last few months suggest optimism has hit a plateau, Fannie Mae says. While September's survey results show attitudes leading up to the October shutdown, they do not necessarily reveal its full effects (or those of the pending debt ceiling debate), the company noted. Those results should be seen in the surveys for October and the following months.

Mortgage lending remains tight compared to historical norms, and lending could tighten even further as the government takes steps to lessen its role in the market.

According to recently published data from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey (ACS), the homeownership rate was down in 2012 for the fifth consecutive year, falling to 63.9 percent. "By most measures, 2012 was a year of housing market recovery, with gains in housing construction, home sales, home prices, and mortgage originations. However ... the homeownership rate did not follow suit," said Patrick Simmons, director of strategic planning for Fannie Mae's Economic and Strategic Research Group.

Most economists agreed that the broader effects of the shutdown should be minimal, assuming that the shutdown is short-lived.

Fannie Mae's book of business fell in August at a compound rate of 0.8 percent, a slower pace than -1.7 percent in July. Year-to-date, the book's average monthly growth rate was -1.1 percent as of the end of the month. The secondary market giant's gross mortgage portfolio continued to drop, though the rate of contraction was slower at 29.6 percent negative growth. Year-to-date, the average monthly growth rate for the portfolio was -23.1 percent in August. New business acquisitions were also down.

According to a release from Citi, the bank will pay Freddie Mac $395 million, all of which is covered by its existing mortgage repurchase reserves as of the end of Q2. The agreement covers claims for breaches of representations and warranties on 3.7 million loans sold between 2000 and 2012. Jane Fraser, CEO of CitiMortgage, said the agreement "marks another important milestone in successfully resolving Citi's remaining legacy mortgage issues."

Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-Virginia) is seeing tremendous momentum toward GSE reform in Congress, he said during a discussion with Zillow chief economist Stan Humphries this week. He also expressed his optimism that the Housing Reform and Taxpayer Protection Act of 2013--a bill he helped co-sponsor--"actually has a chance" of passing. Fellow co-sponsor Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tennessee), who was also part of the discussion with Humphries, expressed similar sentiment, saying the bill is "gaining momentum."

James B. Lockhart III, vice chairman of WL Ross & Co. and former director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, addressed a packed house at the inaugural Investment Symposium at the 10th Annual Five Star Conference and Expo. Lockhart's speech wound through many of today's biggest topics, including the current movement to dissolve the GSEs. He also praised Federal Reserve chair Ben Bernanke's leadership during the crisis, saying Bernanke's efforts to move the economy have been largely successful.

Mortgage rates rose from 3.57 percent to 4.07 percent over the second quarter, while total refinances completed through Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac fell from about 1.4 million to about 1.3 million.