The major mortgage backers, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, have recently curtailed publication of several of their longstanding public housing-market surveys and economic forecasts. This marks a sharp shift away from a history of openly sharing data that many lenders, analysts, and policymakers have relied on to gauge market sentiment and make informed decisions.
Several of the largest U.S. real estate platforms are predicting that mortgage rates will see minimal movement in 2026, maintaining a pattern of stability rather than dramatic shifts. Despite hopes for a significant drop, most forecasts suggest rates will remain anchored in the low-6% range throughout the year.
As mortgage rates have dipped recently, refinancing activity has surged — and servicers are holding onto more of those refinanced loans than at any time in the past three and a half years. According to Q3 2025 data from ICE Mortgage Technology, refinance-loan retention rose to 28%, the highest figure recorded since early 2022.
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) has announced that the baseline conforming loan limit (CLL) for one-unit properties will increase to $832,750 in 2026, up from $806,500 in 2025. This adjustment reflects the annual rise in U.S. home prices. The increase is mandated by the Housing and Economic Recovery Act (HERA), which requires that the loan limits be recalculated each year based on the change in the national average home price.
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) has announced that the loan‑purchase cap for multifamily mortgages for each of its regulated entities — Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — will be $88 billion in 2026, marking a combined cap of $176 billion for both enterprises. This represents a significant increase from 2025, when the cap for each entity was set at $73 billion (combined $146 billion). The increase is more than 20 percent year‑over‑year.
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.
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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.
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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.
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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.