Congressional Research Service Suggests Creating 20 Housing GSEs

The nation's housing market might be best served by creating up to 20 housing GSEs, according to a recent report by the Congressional Research Service. The CRS, however, is not promoting one option over another but instead weighs the benefits of several different ideas concerning the future of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. CRS notes that 20 housing GSEs could fall under financial stress at the same time but says one way to avoid this is to assign each a specific geographic region or have them "specialize in certain types of housing such as condominiums or multifamily rental housing." Next year the Obama Administration is expected to unveil its proposals on Fannie and Freddie. Since the third quarter of 2007 Fannie has posted net losses of $102 billion, Freddie $63 billion.