Freddie Mac

The White House and congressional GOP leaders are eyeing a tight window between tax reform passage and the 2018 midterms to pass housing finance reform. And with key policymakers readying their exit, the effort could be the most concerted push yet.

Mortgage rates moved to their highest mark since July and the 10-year Treasury yield ticked up 6 basis points, according to Freddie Mac.

That’s an about-face from the bank’s previous transaction, completed in October, which was backed by fixed-rate mortgages, nearly half of which were underwritten to standards for purchase by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac.

Mortgage rates fell slightly across the board after the release of the Republican Party tax plan and the nomination of a new Federal Reserve chairman.

So long as the current monetary regime survives, homeowners — present and potential — can expect higher average prices interspersed with wild rides up and down.

Lenders selling loans through Freddie Mac's system experienced access difficulties Monday afternoon, when the government-sponsored enterprise sent out an alert to lenders about the problem.

Growth in loans with higher debt-to-income ratios is reviving focus on a regulatory exemption for Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and other federal agencies that back mortgages.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency must set fees equal to the cost of capital that private banks hold against similar risk, not just the amount of capital that Fannie and Freddie think are right for themselves.

Mortgage rates were unchanged or up slightly this week even as the 10-year Treasury yield retreated from its recent gains, according to Freddie Mac.

Mark Calabria, the chief economic adviser to Vice President Mike Pence, said the administration is focused for now on more pressing issues than GSE reform, including addressing housing damage from recent hurricanes.