Tag Archives: FHFA

As FHFA Director Mel Watt revealed in his first public speech as the agency's chief, the companies' new direction revolves around three main objectives: maintain, reduce, and build. "Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac made significant progress toward achieving the goals in FHFA's Strategic Plan for the Conservatorships last year and we look forward to building on that progress in 2015," Watt said Wednesday.

In a comment letter addressed to the Federal Housing Finance Agency's (FHFA) general counsel, Alicia Nealon, director of regulatory affairs for the National Association of Federal Credit Unions (NAFCU), voiced the association's opposition to the proposal, which she says would "disenfranchise over 1 million credit union member-owners."

With 2015 less than two weeks underway, Fitch Ratings is the latest forecaster predicting great things for housing in the coming year. However, unlike other commentators, whose projections were based on encouraging market trends, the ratings agency says it's a combination of recent government actions that reinforces its view.

Speaking as a guest presenter at the Rotary Club of Atlanta on Monday, Fannie Mae President and CEO Timothy Mayopoulos warned against any type of reform where housing finance is concerned, telling the audience that "the (current) system works," according to a report.

Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) may have to pay additional penalties to settle claims that it sold faulty U.S. mortgage-backed securities in the years leading up to the housing market crash, according to a report from Reuters.

Mortgage interest rates nationwide experienced declines from October to November, according to an index released by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA). The average interest rate for all mortgage loans in the U.S. was 4.01 percent in November, a decline of 10 basis points from 4.11 percent in October; for conventional, 30-year fixed-rate mortgages of $417,000 or less, the average interest rate of 4.24 percent for November represented a decline of eight basis points from 4.32 in October.

From the start of QM to the end of quantitative easing, the past year saw plenty of big news in the mortgage and financial markets. As the new year rolls in, MReport is taking a look at some of the biggest FHFA headlines of 2014.

Amid reports of subdued home sales in the year's closing months, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) delivered a piece of good news in the form of continued house price gains. The agency's latest House Price Index (HPI) showed a month-to-month gain of 0.6 percent in October, picking up steam after posting no change in September.

The letter, co-authored by Senators Joe Manchin (D-West Virginia) and Mark Kirk (R-Illinois), states that "(t)he proposed rule affects long-standing membership rules for the Federal Home Loan Bank system and will negatively affect new and current members in the system." Twenty-five other senators signed the letter.

U.S. Representative Ed Royce (R-California), a senior member of the House Financial Services Committee, has issued a statement calling the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA)'s announcement that the Agency will divert GSE money to the Housing Trust Fund and Capital Magnet Fund "outrageous."