Freddie Mac

Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac Hold $24 Billion in Foreclosed Properties

Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac now hold $24 billion in foreclosure inventory:

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s combined inventory of foreclosed residential property has quadrupled in just three years and now stands at a record $24 billion. The number of properties on their rolls -- now at nearly 242,000 -- has increased fivefold.

That’s roughly a third of the total U.S. portfolio of repossessed homes.

So far, Fannie & Freddie have been holding those foreclosures to not flood the real estate market. With foreclosures projected to increase 20% in 2011, eventually they are going to have to sell those foreclosed properties, which will cause home prices fall. On top of Fannie & Freddie there is a glut of shadow inventory, all being held back to avoid the inevitable foreclosure dump. Bottom line, housing prices must fall and you can't pay for a house when don't have a paycheck or a shrinking one.

Now, Banks want to securitize mortgages held by the GSEs, yes those derivatives which caused the financial crisis, plus have the government guarantee them.

The Banks have set their lobbyists upon this socialize the risk, privatize the gain Freddie and Fannie agenda and notice how lobbyists write white papers full of spin to met their objective of more taxpayer subsidies.

Rumor Obama will force Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac to forgive negative equity mortgage debt for underwater mortgages

If you haven't seen it yet, there is a rumor running around that the Obama administration will order Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to forgive a portion of mortgage debt for home owners in negative equity.

Main Street may be about to get its own gigantic bailout. Rumors are running wild from Washington to Wall Street that the Obama administration is about to order government-controlled lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to forgive a portion of the mortgage debt of millions of Americans who owe more than what their homes are worth. An estimated 15 million U.S. mortgages – one in five – are underwater with negative equity of some $800 billion. Recall that on Christmas Eve 2009, the Treasury Department waived a $400 billion limit on financial assistance to Fannie and Freddie, pledging unlimited help. The actual vehicle for the bailout could be the Bush-era Home Affordable Refinance Program, or HARP, a sister program to Obama’s loan modification effort. HARP was just extended through June 30, 2011.

The move, if it happens, would be a stunning political and economic bombshell less than 100 days before a midterm election in which Democrats are currently expected to suffer massive, if not historic losses. The key date to watch is August 17 when the Treasury Department holds a much-hyped meeting on the future of Fannie and Freddie.

Fannie Mae Loses $11.5 Billion in Q1 2010

Wow. Freddie and Fannie reported a loss $11.5 Billion dollars and sees no end in sight for future losses. From their press release:

Due to current trends in the housing and financial markets, we continue to expect to have a net worth deficit in future periods, and therefore will be required to obtain additional funding from Treasury pursuant to the senior preferred stock purchase agreement.

Fannie and Freddie asked for another $8.4 billion from Treasury and last month received $15.3 billion from Treasury, bringing the tally up to $92.7 billion dollars.

Our estimated market share of new single-family mortgage-related securities issuances was 40.8 percent in the first quarter of 2010, compared with 38.9 percent in the fourth quarter of 2009. Our mortgage credit book of business was $3.18 trillion as of March 31, 2010.

Fannie and Freddie also have a host of Mortgage Backed Securities on their books and look at these statements in regard to them:

  • Elimination of fair value losses on credit-impaired loans acquired from MBS trusts we have consolidated, as the underlying loans in our MBS trusts are already recognized in our condensed consolidated balance sheets.

Barney Frank - Let's Replace Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac

Bloomberg is reporting House Financial Services Committee Chair, Barney Frank, is talking about replacing Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae with a different type of mortgage financing model.

The committee will be recommending abolishing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in their current form and coming up with a whole new system of housing finance,” Frank, a Massachusetts Democrat and chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, said at a hearing in Washington today. “That’s the approach, rather than a piecemeal one.”

If you recall, Fannie and Freddie received quite a Christmas present in the form of an unlimited bail out, which puts TARP to shame.