Citadel Servicing has raised $200 million in capital to originate residential subprime mortgages. Does this mean subprime lending is "back"? Answer: yes and no.
This week’s effort by a quartet of former Washington heavyweights to “jump start” the debate over the future of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in the form of a new, but familiar, mortgage reform proposal put GSE overhaul back in the headlines. Industry observers say that’s a plus, but it remains to be seen whether it will ultimately affect policy change. The Bipartisan Policy Center, comprised of former Republican and Democrat lawmakers and cabinet officials, issued a plan calling for the phasing out of the GSEs in favor of a new federal entity that explicitly acts as a backstop of last resort after the private sector.
Freddie Mac ended 2012 with its single best quarterly showing since the company was placed into government conservatorship by the Federal Housing Finance Agency at the height of mortgage market implosion 4½ years ago. The GSE late this week posted fourth quarter net income of $4.5 billion. Compared to the third quarter’s earnings of $2.9 billion, profits grew by 55 percent, the company noted in its Securities and Exchange Commission filing.
Over the next 10 months upwards of $15 billion in nonperforming residential loans could hit the auction market – and some of that product will come from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Investment bankers and loan sale advisors familiar with the matter told Inside The GSEs that Fannie could come to market with a multi-million dollar package of residential NPLs before the end of March. One trader told IGSEs that Fannie’s announcement was imminent, but at press time no such proclamation had been made.
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