NAR Urges SIFMA to Rethink Jumbo Policy

The National Association of Realtors is urging the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association to reconsider its policies excluding Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac jumbo loans from "to-be-announced" pools so the two GSEs can obtain better pricing and securitize jumbo mortgages. Now that Congress has permanently raised the government-sponsored enterprise loan limits, "it is time to treat all GSE-eligible mortgages the same and permit pooling in TBA securities so all qualified borrowers may receive the full benefit of GSE mortgages," the NAR says in a letter to SIFMA. Fannie and Freddie mortgages at below the conforming loan limit (currently $417,000) are eligible for TBA pooling. But when Congress temporarily increased the maximum GSE loan limit to $729,750 as part of an economic stimulus package, SIFMA banned the higher-balance loans from TBA pooling. This exclusion has forced Fannie and Freddie to purchase and portfolio jumbo loans. With the GSEs trying to conserve capital, the NAR wants SIFMA to open the securitization spigot. The NAR can be found online at http://www.realtor.org, and SIFMA can be found at http://www.sifma.org.