FHFA

Former principal economist at the Federal Housing Finance Agency Paul Manchester breaks down how the targets have been calculated and discusses the implications for the set determined for 2022 to 2024.

In a Senate confirmation hearing, the acting Federal Housing Finance Agency director echoed her predecessor’s view that restructuring of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac should fall to Congress, and pointed to measures aimed at mitigating risk for the agencies.

The government-sponsored enterprise also unveiled two new tranche slices for investors to purchase.

While some in the industry support the change, mortgage broker trade group AIME called on the agency to reconsider it.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency should consider allowing small depositories — those defined by regulators to be below $10 billion in total assets — to again make use of structured transactions for seasoned, performing loans, writes the chairman of Whalen Global Advisors.

Acting Director Sandra Thompson said the Federal Housing Finance Agency is considering changes to the risk-based fees that critics say have disproportionately hurt minority borrowers of low down-payment loans.

While the Biden Administration has issued a series of measures to encourage the production of more affordable housing, municipalities must changing their zoning or other restrictive laws to facilitate additional development, writes the Chairman and CEO of Walker & Dunlop

The targets set by the rule pitched last month would be reduced from recent performance levels for non-minority low-income census tracts, reducing the incentive for the GSEs to purchase mortgages for families in these areas, writes a former principal economist from the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

The biggest issues facing the mortgage industry involve public policy and all of them feature a political narrative that is ill-informed and largely at odds with market realities, Whalen writes.

The White House and the Federal Housing Finance Agency announced steps to help nonprofits and public agencies buy foreclosed properties, among other initiatives, as part of a plan to boost supply over the next three years.