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Inside The GSEs

June 3, 2009

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Winding Down GSE Portfolios an Anxiety

Still trying to cope with a severe housing downturn and precarious mortgage markets, industry officials are increasingly concerned about the planned winding-down of the massive $1.6 trillion combined portfolio of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. “The National Association of Home Builders is concerned about the winding down of the [GSEs’] portfolios,” the trade group... Read More

FHLB Non-Agency OTTI Pounding Intensifies

Five of the Federal Home Loan Banks have taken a hit from their non-agency mortgage-backed securities holdings during the first quarter of 2009 that is more than double the size of the writedowns all 12 of them had to take for the entire year in 2008, according to a review by Inside The GSEs. Last year, the FHLBanks collectively took an “other-than-temporary impairment” charge of... Read More

Advance Use Again Drops as Credit Market Thaws

Financial institutions throughout the U.S. continue to see liquidity a little easier to find, if their use of Federal Home Loan Banks is any indication. After slipping 13.5 percent from the third quarter of 2008 to the fourth quarter, the use of advances by the top 40 bank and thrift users dropped another 4.2 percent in the first quarter, according to... [Includes one chart] Read More

GSE MBS Issuance, Portfolios See Big Rise in 1Q09

Fannie Mae and Freddie saw their issuance of mortgage-backed securities in the first quarter surge 94 percent compared with the fourth quarter of 2008, according to the Inside Mortgage Finance MBS Database. Ginnie Mae volume, on the other hand, was up a more modest 11 percent. Fannie’s and Freddie’s combined portfolio spiked to $1.651 trillion in... [Includes one chart] Read More

GSEs Tweak Loan Mods as Fannie Mod Defaults Rise

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac continue to revise, adjust and otherwise flesh out their respective iterations of the Obama administration’s Home Affordable Modification Program, even as Fannie has seen default rates on one of its controversial rescue plans skyrocket.“The HomeSaver Advance program is showing high redefault rates on the early offerings. Performance on the February... Read More

Fannie’s Loss Severities a Sobering Reminder

The continued enormous credit-related expenses that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have been taking, and the dicey residential finance market that is causing them, have compelled the two government-sponsored enterprises to look anew at the way they model, predict and reserve for future losses, particularly as they relate to non-agency mortgage-backed securities. The new loss severity... Read More

FHFA Doesn’t Look in the Mirror, Critics Say

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s annual report to Congress sure lays a lot of blame on the corporate management at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, critics say, but precious little for the regulatory agency itself. This despite the fact its preceding entity, the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, had staff in the office of Fannie and Freddie on a daily basis, they add... Read More

FHFA Has Swollen Agency Rule Pipeline Backlog

The Federal Housing Finance Agency has an impressive backlog of GSE regulations to promulgate since the enactment of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act, according to the spring 2009 regulatory agency published by the Office of Management and Budget. In the proposed rule stage, the FHFA has regulations on privacy act implementation, FHLBank housing... Read More

Don’t Let GSEs Off the Goals Hook, Advocates Say

The Federal Housing Finance Agency recently proposed lowering the affordable housing goals of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to 2004-2006 levels – which Fannie and Freddie have suggested they may not be able to meet. But housing goal advocates implored the GSEs’ regulator for more support from the companies, not less. “Your proposal to reduce the [GSEs’] 2009 affordable housing goals to... Read More

News In Brief

FHLBank of Cincinnati Snags Another Life Insurer: The Federal Home Loan Bank of Cincinnati continues to be among the most successful... Kanjorski Schedules June 3 Hearing on Fannie, Freddie: The current state and future role of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were the... Exec Turnover Continues at Fannie As Pallotta Replaces Lund: A little more than a month after Fannie Mae CEO Herb Allison left... Read More

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