Most credit unions support the status quo when it comes to the government-sponsored enterprises because they are a primary outlet to get mortgages off of their balance sheets.
Just under 60% of those surveyed by the National Association of Federally-Insured Credit Unions said they sold loans to Fannie Mae (39%), Freddie Mac (12%) or both (12%).
Those credit unions on average sold 37.1% of their 2017 production to the GSEs, but 22% of the respondents said they sold proportionally more loans to the enterprises prior to the Great Recession.
Among the three scenarios asked
About 60% of respondents said they were unsure about a scenario that would eliminate the GSEs and privatize the market, but keep a government guarantee. The remaining respondents were roughly split between supporting and opposing it.
However, over 73% of credit unions were opposed to eliminating the GSEs, privatizing the market and not having an explicit government guarantee.
"Effective housing finance reform that preserves a government guarantee, maintains unfettered access to the secondary market and ensures fair pricing for credit unions based on loan quality, not volume, remains key to ensuring meaningful credit union participation in the housing market," NAFCU said in its February Economic & CU Monitor.
Among other secondary market outlets, 39% sell to the Federal Home Loan Banks, while 11% use credit union service organizations or a wholesale lender and 6% sell to Ginnie Mae or make private placements.
When asked about regulatory reform, around 65% of the respondents said the ability to repay and qualified mortgage standards need to be revised.
