Executive Perspectives Blog
This is a time of substantial progress in the mortgage market – progress that's very real, even if it's not very glamorous. In the words of Freddie Mac CEO Don Layton, all of us in this industry are "present at the creation" of a better and more resilient system of mortgage finance. And it's one that can last for many years if we do it right.
Pre-purchase financial counseling may reduce, by an average of 29 percent, the likelihood of a first-time homebuyer becoming seriously delinquent, according to the initial findings of a new analysis of 38,000 Freddie Mac mortgages made to first-time homebuyers and low- to moderate-income families between 2000 and 2008.
Since one-third of Americans rent rather than own their home, Freddie Mac has a vibrant business focused on the multifamily marketplace. Here, we work with a variety of business partners – lenders, borrowers and securities investors – to finance affordable housing for renters nationwide. How are we doing in terms of creating value for these stakeholders as well as the U.S. taxpayer who capitalizes Freddie Mac?
With mortgage interest rates at record lows and single-family home affordability at an all-time high, there has never been a better time to buy. In the wake of the recent housing crisis, it's increasingly common for prospective homebuyers to consider buying a real estate owned (REO) home – one that has gone through the foreclosure process and is owned by a bank or other institution. While the process for buying an REO is a lot like buying any other home, it's important to understand what you should know before you buy.
It only took Freddie Mac 17 business days to write, test, and deploy the 100+ rule changes comprising our Hurricane Sandy disaster relief policies for the systems lenders use to sell and service Freddie Mac mortgages. That is about 90 percent less time than it took to operationalize policy changes following disasters like Hurricane Katrina or the 2012 New England floods.
The upshot? Faster turnaround times at Freddie Mac equate to more quickly providing relief to borrowers whose homes were damaged by last year's super storm. This also enabled originators to maintain pricing and fund mortgages for homebuyers and refinancing borrowers whose closings were abruptly put on hold by Hurricane Sandy.
