In her first long-form interview since taking over as FHFA acting director, Sandra Thompson insisted that expanding the GSEs’ books of business won’t make them riskier.
FHFA announced the suspension of the caps on the GSEs’ purchase of second-home and investor-property mortgages on Sept. 14. By Sept. 15, the price of these loans jumped more than a percentage point.
The mortgage industry’s warnings that the restrictions placed on the GSEs would tighten credit availability for less qualified borrowers were not lost on the Biden administration.