Tag Archives: Freddie Mac

The Senate cleared a bill Thursday that bans bonuses for executives with either of the GSEs and requires mortgage disclosures from senior-level government officials. The bill ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┼ô the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┼ô passed by a count of 96 to 3, according to news outlets, and combines an earlier House version with Senate amendments. Except in certain circumstances, under the law, government officials and their spouses will need to disclose report on and disclose information about their mortgage loans. GSE executives will be eligible only for federal pay grades.

Mortgage rates climbed above 4 percent this week, marking a departure from persistently low interest rates for the first time in five months as economic distress lifts stateside and Greece clears hurdles. Mortgage giant Freddie Mac found the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaging 4.08 percent, up from 3.92 percent last week but far below last year├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós 4.81 percent. Freddie saw the 15-year loan averaging 3.30 percent, reflecting a climb from 3.16 percent last week, with rates for 5-year and 1-year adjustable-rate mortgages likewise ticking up.

The House Budget Committee unveiled a budget plan for the next fiscal year that proposes raising guarantee fees for the GSEs and dismantling the Dodd-Frank Act. Committee chair Rep. Paul Ryan billed the so-called Path to Prosperity as a measure that will slash $6.2 trillion in government expenditures over the next decade and draw down the deficit by more than $4.4 trillion in contrast with President Barack Obama├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós budget. House Republicans proposed raising guarantee fees, downsizing portfolios for the GSEs, and eventually leaving housing finance to only the Federal Housing Administration.

Refinance activity ticked up for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac during the fourth quarter, showing an increase in interest for the Home Affordable Refinance Program over last year. The Federal Housing Finance Agency released the results Monday in a Foreclosure Prevention and Refinance Report for the last quarter. Total HARP refinance volume came to include more than 1,021,800 loans, with a cumulative rise by 10 percent for the GSEs in the fourth quarter. Of these, Fannie Mae netted 376,365 in refinance loans, a measure of 2,045,777 HARP loans it saw last year.

The days of record-low mortgage rates may be in our rearview mirror. Rates for all loan products headed higher this week - and by more than just the incremental 1 or 2 basis points. Analysts attribute the rise to increasing bond yields, driven by investors' growing confidence in the economy and recent evidence from the Federal Reserve's stress tests that indicates banks have strengthened capital levels enough to maintain operations and continue lending through another hypothetical recession.

Despite reported net income of $619 million for the 2011 fourth quarter, Freddie Mac will still need to request $146 million from the U.S. Treasury for the company's fourth quarter net worth deficit due to "senior preferred dividends paid of $1.7 billion," the Freddie Mac 2011 fourth quarter and year 2011 report stated. For the 2011 third quarter, $6 billion was requested after the GSE reported its largest quarterly loss in over a year. Overall, the GSE has requested $7.6 billion from the Treasury for the year 2011.

Homebuyer affordability is at a record high, and a big driver of that underlying market denominator is the fact that mortgage interest rates continue to hover close to 60-year lows. Data released Thursday by Freddie Mac puts the average rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage at 3.88 percent, and the 15-year fixed-rate mortgage hit a record low of 3.13 percent. Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac's chief economist, says that due to these factors, the typical family had more than double the income needed to purchase a median-priced home in January.

The inspector general of the Federal Housing Finance Agency released a report Tuesday that criticizes the agency, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac for a series of ongoing oversight problems with mortgage servicers. The document charges that the FHFA failed to implement service guidelines for the mortgage company last year and portrays today├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós environment as one in which the agency, GSEs, and servicers all punt responsibility down the ladder. It also alleges that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac routinely fail to swap servicer information.

A prominent housing trade group joined a growing roster of policy makers by outlining ways to take the GSEs off federal conservatorship, reintroduce private mortgage-backed securities, and charge existing government entities with stewardship of the new system. The National Association of Home Builders released a white paper Monday that calls on lawmakers to slowly transition a system dominated by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to one that shares and balances responsibility. The proposal comes as others arrive from lawmakers and policy makers to replace the GSEs.

This week mortgage rates played by the same script seen for the last few months, furthering a season for all-time high affordability while fears for Europe drove investors across the Atlantic. Finance Web site Bankrate.com, mortgage giant Freddie Mac, and real estate Web site Zillow.com delivered a dearth for rates across the board. Bankrate.com likewise offered declines for loans across the board. For its part, Greece remains in the clutch of a debt crisis that drew $172 billion in bailout funds from eurozone finance ministers last week.