Fannie Touts Progress on $2T Pledge

Fannie Mae has completed two-thirds of its 10-year pledge to give $2 trillion in financing to historically underserved families in less than a third of the time, the big secondary market company says in its annual progress report.To date, Fannie Mae has provided more than $1.3 trillion for nearly 12 million targeted families. Half of that amount came last year when, pushed by record-low interest rates, Fannie Mae provided $670 billion for almost 5.5 million families. While rates "dramatically advantage the refi market," Fannie Mae chairman Franklin Raines said growth in purchase-money mortgages was even more spectacular, especially among minorities. Since 1993, when Fannie Mae set its original $1 trillion lending commitment, the number of purchase-money mortgages has increased 93%. But purchase-money mortgages to all minorities are up 177%. While purchase loans to whites were up 64% over the last 10 years, they were up 226% to African-Americans and 243% to Hispanics. Fannie Mae can be found online at http://www.fanniemae.com.