Freddie Says Market Share Up

Freddie Mac says it now has a market share of 40%, a sign that the government-sponsored enterprise is perhaps benefiting, at least a little, from the woes of its chief competitor, Fannie Mae."We have a market share of about 40%," chairman and chief executive Richard Syron said during a Jan. 18 conference call after the market closed. "We anticipate further gains." He said the company is not trying to "take advantage" of the current turmoil at Fannie, and suggested that mortgage bankers instead are "desirous of diversifying" their funding sources. Company president Eugene McQuade said one of his chief goals has been to spend more time with Freddie's customers. A company spokesman told MortgageWire that the market share figure represents issuance of mortgage-backed bonds or, in Freddie's case, "participation certificates." The spokesman said that at the beginning of 2003 Freddie's market share was in the low 30% range. (See the Jan. 24 issue of National Mortgage News for more details.) Freddie Mac can be found online at http://www.freddiemac.com.