Fri, Aug 11 2017, 9:47 AM
Fannie and Freddie are doing their best to remain integral to housing finance. Let me save you a lot of money that you’d spend going to conferences ju...
Tue, Aug 8 2017, 9:08 AM
Consumer attitudes toward buying and selling a home turned negative in July. Fannie Mae's National Housing Survey conducted during the month found few...
Tue, Jul 25 2017, 2:08 PM
Unless one follows the Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac conservatorship drama on a regular basis, it is easy to get lost in the legal weeds. MND has dipped in a...
Mon, Jul 24 2017, 11:35 AM
Most of the major proposals for reforming the housing finance system rely on two steps to minimize the risk that any one or two institutions, and in t...
Mon, Jul 17 2017, 1:01 PM
Fannie Mae said it is sticking with its forecast for 2.0 percent economic growth in 2017, a projection it first made in February. The estimate of 2.1 ...
Mon, Jul 3 2017, 9:12 AM
Fannie Mae's Book of Business increased at a compounded annual rate of 1.5 percent in April to a value of $3.168 trillion compared to $3.164 trillion ...
Fri, Jun 30 2017, 9:20 AM
Huh? The year is half over? Didn’t 2017 just start? Time has a way of flying by. Via rocket ship. July starts tomorrow… and we hear of a new marketing...
Thu, Jun 29 2017, 10:51 AM
The Urban Institute (UI) releases a regular report, Housing Finance at a Glance , a "chartbook" loaded with charts and commentary on mortgage activity...
Thu, Jun 8 2017, 9:34 AM
The Fannie Mae Home Purchase Sentiment Index® (HPSI) decreased fractionally in May, however the change in each of its internal components was decidedl...
Wed, Jun 7 2017, 9:59 AM
Summer is here, school is out for many, and it’s time for vacation, right? Here’s a little trivia for your co-workers. What is number of available vac...
Thu, Jun 1 2017, 11:41 AM
Fannie Mae said on Wednesday that its Book of Business increased at a compounded annual rate of 1.3 percent in April to a value of $3.164 trillion. Th...
Thu, May 18 2017, 9:57 AM
Imagine being able to keep the money you earn!? Per Mr. Mel Watt, Fannie & Freddie might have to keep their profits to avoid rescue . Mr. Watt, who ha...
Thu, May 11 2017, 2:48 PM
Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Director Mel Watt had three messages for the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs on Thu...
Wed, May 10 2017, 9:35 AM
For appraisers, sometimes a simple 3 bedroom, 2 bath tract home can have complications that make things difficult. What about houses that actually "hi...
Thu, May 4 2017, 11:22 AM
May the 4th be with you! People wonder if anyone from Freddie Mac has ever actually visited Fannie’s location for an office visit. Yes! Here’s actual ...
Wed, Apr 26 2017, 8:44 AM
How about this quote from the tech world? “If you're not paying for the product, you are the product.” If you don't want companies to collect and sell...
Wed, Apr 26 2017, 5:15 PM
Last week, with considerable fanfare , the Mortgage Bankers Association released its plan for reforming the housing finance system, including a resolu...
Tue, Apr 25 2017, 2:16 PM
At $1.4 trillion, student loan debt represents the U.S.'s second largest debt market behind mortgages and, in several recent surveys, younger responde...
Fri, Apr 21 2017, 9:28 AM
The origins of job interviews? Here you go . And speaking of employment, yesterday the commentary mentioned companies coming and going. Here in Florid...
Wed, Apr 19 2017, 11:27 AM
Fannie Mae has moved its projected timeline for further Federal Reserve price hikes forward by several months. The company's Economic & Strategic Rese...
Fri, Mar 31 2017, 11:39 AM
After gathering little attention for nearly a decade, the two GSEs, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are making news on several fronts. Two developments in ...
Fri, Mar 31 2017, 9:47 AM
Let’s end the week with a non-mortgage question, but one that you mathaletes will enjoy. What would happen if you were hit by a penny falling from a s...
Wed, Mar 22 2017, 5:36 PM
“Dance like no one is watching. E-mail like one day it may be read aloud in a deposition.” Here's some pithier legal news. The Department of Justice i...
Mon, Mar 20 2017, 3:28 PM
Fannie Mae's March economic forecast was written before the FOMC announced an increase in the fed funds rate last Wednesday. The company's economists ...
Wed, Mar 8 2017, 9:19 AM
Yes, we change our clocks this weekend, losing an hour, although some states have escaped this ordeal by not using Daylight Savings Time. Different st...
Thu, Feb 23 2017, 4:15 PM
It seemed just an aside in the National Association of Realtors press release regarding January existing home sales. NAR President William E. Brown, t...
Wed, Feb 22 2017, 1:37 PM
Are you lending in areas where LOs are receiving more calls from recruiters than they are from real estate agents? Let’s hope not. But here’s somethin...
Wed, Feb 15 2017, 9:56 AM
“The flat earth society has members all around the globe.” Speaking of orbs, while global wealth totals $255 trillion , the median wealth of all 4.8 b...
Fri, Feb 3 2017, 4:45 PM
Blackstone Group has disclosed that it has secured Fannie Mae's backing for a mortgage backed by some of the single-family homes it purchased, princip...
Wed, Feb 1 2017, 10:28 AM
Calling it the final piece of unfinished business from the financial crisis, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) has published a paper with its rec...
Wed, Jan 11 2017, 9:24 AM
While rumors swirl about the topic for the phone call with Stearns Lending’s correspondent-wide staff today (let’s hope its good news), Richard Cordra...
Mon, Jan 9 2017, 3:08 PM
Consumer perceptions about rising interest rates and stagnant income levels were the main contributors to a half-point decrease in Fannie Mae's Home P...
Wed, Dec 21 2016, 9:28 AM
Despite the 3.2 percent annualized growth in the GDP in the third quarter, Fannie Mae's economists expect the full-years growth to moderate to less th...
Wed, Dec 21 2016, 9:11 AM
Hey, don’t know what to get your favorite capital markets guy or gal this year for Christmas? Here's a memorable gift , with a one minute video. Altho...
Mon, Dec 19 2016, 9:28 AM
Post-election interest rate changes have considerably dampened mortgage lenders' expectations for mortgage demand. Fannie Mae's fourth quarter Mortgag...
Wed, Dec 14 2016, 9:45 AM
Under a final rule issued on Tuesday by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) has set forth three underserved markets for activities the GSEs Fred...
Thu, Dec 8 2016, 12:32 PM
Freddie Mac just announced that it has implemented Release 1, utilizing the Common Securitization Platform (CSP) . The Release was launched on Novembe...
Thu, Dec 8 2016, 10:48 AM
A dramatic uptick in consumer perceptions about household income kept Fannie Mae's Home Purchase Sentiment (HPSI) Index from tanking in November. Even...
Mon, Nov 7 2016, 1:23 PM
Fannie Mae's Home Purchase Sentiment Index® (HPSI) suffered its third decline in as many months in October. The Index, based on responses to six key q...
Thu, Nov 3 2016, 12:38 PM
The two government sponsored enterprises (GSEs) reported improved financial results in the third quarter of 2016. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac both said...
Thu, Nov 3 2016, 10:03 AM
With residential applications at a 5-month industry low, it’s time for a pun. "How much does it cost to buy sixty female pigs and forty male deer? One...
Tue, Oct 25 2016, 9:57 AM
The annual mortgage conference is in full swing, and I am sure that reports of “ 10 vendors for every 1 residential lender ” are exaggerated. Well, ma...
Mon, Oct 24 2016, 2:46 PM
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac each announced what appear to be essentially identical changes in their loan underwriting programs - Fannie calls its new o...
Fri, Oct 21 2016, 10:11 AM
As thousands of folks prepare to head to Boston for the MBA’s conference, they may be asking, “What’s in my wallet?” Maybe a little less. The average ...
Wed, Oct 19 2016, 2:38 PM
Fannie Mae says it expect economic growth will improve on its anemic performance in the first half of 2016 in the second half of the year, rising to 2...
Tue, Oct 18 2016, 10:07 AM
Stephen Covey said, “The key is not to prioritize what's on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities." Catchy. Speaking of schedules, my cat Myr...
Tue, Oct 11 2016, 9:57 AM
Fannie Mae acknowledged last week that their form of Acknowledgement Agreement with lenders is " overly complicated and full of dense legal language" ...
Tue, Oct 11 2016, 9:49 AM
As they have following other natural disasters, both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have announced that their "full menu of disaster relief policies" will...
Fri, Oct 7 2016, 12:44 PM
Fannie Mae's Home Purchase Sentiment Index (HPSI), which hit an all-time high of 86.5 in July, has now retreated for two consecutive months. The index...
Thu, Sep 29 2016, 9:54 AM
How is it that we only have two days left in September, and that it is National Coffee Day already? Maybe you’ll receive a free or discounted cup at K...
