Russell Vought, Director of the Office of Management and Budget, has revealed plans to completely shut down the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) within the coming months—an announcement that has sent ripples through the financial services industry and consumer advocacy circles. Vought, a longtime critic of the CFPB, previously led efforts to cut nearly 90% of the agency’s staff and freeze its funding. Now, he has laid out a more definitive objective: to bring the bureau’s operations to a close by 2026.
The Federal Reserve’s move toward ending quantitative tightening (QT)—its large‑scale reduction of Treasury and mortgage‑backed security holdings—is sparking interest in how the housing finance market might respond. According to commentary in the industry, the conclusion of QT could potentially pave the way for lower mortgage rates, though timing and magnitude remain uncertain.
Fannie Mae (FNMA) has captured investor attention with a dramatic stock price surge, climbing over 600% year-over-year. The rally has reignited debate about the company’s true valuation and whether its recent momentum is rooted in fundamentals or speculative optimism.
Fannie Mae’s (FNMA) stock has endured a turbulent stretch, falling nearly 15% over the past month after soaring earlier in the year. While year‑to‑date gains still look strong, the recent pullback has captured investor attention and reignited questions about how the company’s equity should be valued going forward.
The ongoing U.S. government shutdown is casting a shadow over the housing market, particularly in flood-prone areas where federally backed flood insurance is essential for mortgage approvals. Without legislative action to renew funding, thousands of home sales could stall each day, costing the real estate market billions in lost transactions.
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) has proposed a rule to add public disclosure requirements for the Enterprise Regulatory Capital Framework (ERCF) for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The proposed rule would implement quarterly quantitative and qualitative disclosure requirements for the enterprises related to regulatory capital instruments, risk-weighted assets calculated under the ERCF’s standardized approach, and risk management policies and procedures.
Opinion-Editorial (Op-Ed) Disclaimer For NAMU® Library Articles: The views and opinions expressed in the NAMU® Library articles are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect any official NAMU® policy or position. Examples of analysis performed within this article are only examples. They should not be utilized in real-world application as they are based only on very limited and dated open source information. Assumptions made within the analysis are not reflective of the position of NAMU®. Nothing contained in this articles should be considered legal advice.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac reported earnings declines from the second to third quarter of 2021, but both experienced increases in year-over-year earnings. Fannie Mae announced that its net income for the quarter was $4.8 billion, down from $7.2 billion during the second quarter of 2021. The company booked net income of $4.3 billion in the third quarter of 2020.
Opinion-Editorial (Op-Ed) Disclaimer For NAMU® Library Articles: The views and opinions expressed in the NAMU® Library articles are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect any official NAMU® policy or position. Examples of analysis performed within this article are only examples. They should not be utilized in real-world application as they are based only on very limited and dated open source information. Assumptions made within the analysis are not reflective of the position of NAMU®. Nothing contained in this articles should be considered legal advice.
Fannie Mae economist expect mortgage originations to remain above pre-pandemic levels in 2022. The company’s Economic and Strategic Research Group released its latest commentary this week, in which it revised downward its full-year 2021 projection for GDP growth for the third consecutive month.
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August was a decent month for the housing and mortgage markets following a few slower months earlier this summer. Freddie Mac reported this week that its total mortgage portfolio increased at an annualized rate of 23.7 percent in August. The ending balance for the portfolio was $3.093 trillion, compared with $2.576 trillion a year ago.
Opinion-Editorial (Op-Ed) Disclaimer For NAMU® Library Articles: The views and opinions expressed in the NAMU® Library articles are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect any official NAMU® policy or position. Examples of analysis performed within this article are only examples. They should not be utilized in real-world application as they are based only on very limited and dated open source information. Assumptions made within the analysis are not reflective of the position of NAMU®. Nothing contained in this articles should be considered legal advice.
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) has proposed amending the Enterprise Regulatory Capital Framework (ERCF) for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The proposed amendments, released last week, would refine the prescribed leverage buffer amount (PLBA) and the capital treatment of credit risk transfers (CRT).
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Fewer first-time homeowners and buyers of newly constructed homes are relying on FHA financing. According to a recent blog post by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) based on U.S. Census data, more than 76 percent of new home sales in the second quarter of this year were financed with conventional loans.
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The Federal Housing Finance Administration (FHFA) has established higher low-income housing goals for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac over the next three years. FHFA announced the new benchmarks for mortgage purchases by the GSEs last week. In the same announcement, FHFA introduced two new single-family home purchase subgoals to replace the existing low-income areas subgoal.
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Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac doubled their year-over-year net income during the second quarter of 2021. Fannie’s net income for the quarter was $7.2 billion, an increase of 181 percent over the $2.5 billion net income in the second quarter of 2020. The company’s recent quarter also produced a 43 percent increase over the $5 billion booked in the first quarter of 2021.
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To stay busy, mortgage underwriters and mortgage processors need people to buy houses. For that to happen, the real estate market needs to provide enough inventory to meet demand. As anybody in the mortgage and real estate industries can attest, that hasn’t been the case lately.
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In the housing market, there continues to be growing optimism regarding selling a home and more pessimism about buying. Fannie Mae released its latest monthly Home Purchase Sentiment Index last week. The survey found that 64 percent of respondents thought the current environment makes it a bad time to buy a home, up from 56 percent the previous month.
Opinion-Editorial (Op-Ed) Disclaimer For NAMU® Library Articles: The views and opinions expressed in the NAMU® Library articles are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect any official NAMU® policy or position. Examples of analysis performed within this article are only examples. They should not be utilized in real-world application as they are based only on very limited and dated open source information. Assumptions made within the analysis are not reflective of the position of NAMU®. Nothing contained in this articles should be considered legal advice.
Written By: Stacey Sprain
As an FHA originator, processor or underwriter, it’s likely that in the ongoing foreclosure market you’ll run across a HUD REO loan at some point. The purpose of this multi-part article is to provide you with some useful information to help in your endeavors.