Year-to-date production, $1.852 trillion as of Halloween, was up 131.5% from last year. It’s a foregone conclusion that Fannie and Freddie this month will top the current $1.912 trillion annual record for GSE MBS issuance set back in 2003.
Despite this "relief" measure, the GSE regulator has been sharply criticized by lenders because the fee is so steep: 500 basis points for first-time buyers and 700 bps for everyone else.
As Brown and Reed point out, unless Fannie and Freddie specifically require it, the parties purchasing these loans are under no obligation to provide forbearance to the borrowers.
The deadline for potential competitors to submit their proposals was Sept. 15. However, that was just the first of four phases in the selection process established last year by the FHFA. The enterprises expect the process to take at least another year to complete.