Fannie Mae

A number of unknowns about the election and the coronavirus response kept consumer confidence in check, according to Fannie Mae.

A White House-backed effort to free mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from government control has been cast into doubt by former Vice President Joe Biden’s victory over President Trump.

Mortgage rates are currently the lowest in the history of Freddie Mac’s survey, but sharp differences of opinion persist on whether that will make this a $4-trillion year or not.

One of the top banking regulators during the 2008 financial crisis could have a hand in nudging Fannie Mae out of conservatorship.

The forbearance rate improved to the a level not seen since early April, but getting back to pre-COVID levels will require employment gains or additional government stimulus measures, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

But both fell short under the Duty to Serve goals in rural housing.

Also: Fannie Mae announces imminent implementation of hedge accounting.

The upcoming shift may help to prepare the government-sponsored enterprise for a conservatorship exit by reducing interest-rate volatility in Fannie’s earnings.

A booming housing market contrasts with a slow-to-improve job market, making for lopsided improvement in the number of troubled mortgages, according to numbers from the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Existing-home sales reach 14-year high as bidding wars increase across the country.

To continue providing liquidity for lenders, Fannie Mae lengthened the period in which it would continue the purchase of forborne mortgages and pools of mortgage-backed securities into 2021.

Leadership from those entities confirmed this week that they will move forward with a plan to add a controversial 50-basis-point charge for refinancing.

The agency confirmed that loans backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac can continue avoiding debt-to-income limits as the bureau completes a revamp of the Qualified Mortgage standard.

Johnson led Fannie in the 1990s and played an advisory role in President Barack Obama's 2008 campaign.

The overall forbearance rate was under 6% for the first time since April as another large swath of loans fell out of CARES Act coverage, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

While using the 30-day SOFR as its index, Freddie Mac structured the deal so it could shift to a one-month term if and when that rate is approved.

This year will top the total volume generated in the housing boom year of 2003. Meanwhile, next year's 30-year FRM is predicted to stay at 2.8%.

Forbearance rates dropped below 7% for the first time in six months, but the decrease is largely due to the ending of the initial six-month term of forbearance granted by the legislation, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Expected to make landfall as a Category 2 storm, Hurricane Delta's surge is estimated to cause damage to 293,685 residential properties across Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas, according to CoreLogic.

But overall sentiment as measured by Fannie Mae continued to recover from the depths of this spring.