The likely next leader of the federal agency that oversees a key part of the mortgage industry testified told members of Congress last week he is prepared to lead the effort to “usher in the Golden Age of housing and mortgage accessibility.” William J. Pulte, President Donald Trump’s nominee for Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), was one of four administration nominees to appear at a joint confirmation hearing before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs.
Housing and mortgage experts are beginning to see a market shift in favor of buyers but remain cautious as to whether that will bring more originations for mortgage processors and underwriters. National real estate brokerage Redfin reported last week that the U.S. housing market tilted in favor of buyers for the first time this decade in January. The 3.7 months of for-sale inventory was the highest in six years.
Real estate brokerage Redfin reported that new listings of U.S. homes for sale rose 7.9 percent from a year earlier during the four weeks ending February 2. Meanwhile, pending sales are improving slightly, but still down 8.1 percent year over year. The uptick in new listings and lack of sales is contributing to a growing pool of supply for homebuyers to choose from.
Fannie Mae economists interpret a recent rise in the 10-year Treasury yield as a sign that home sales are far from rebounding from 30-year lows. In Fannie’s first monthly commentary of 2025, its Economic and Strategic Research Group raised its forecast on where 30-year mortgage rates will land by the end of the year. Fannie now sees rates closing this year at 6.5 percent instead of its previous forecast of 6.2 percent.
The mortgage industry will face its share of challenges, opportunities and unknowns in 2025. Here are a few trends on the horizon: Perhaps the biggest unknown for mortgage underwriters and processors is the effect of a second Donald Trump administration on the industry. The Biden administration’s priority in the housing sector was making housing more affordable and accessible. Vice President Harris and Trump both indicated a desire to make housing more affordable using different approaches.
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.
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.