It’s Been 15 Years Since Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac Conservatorship

By CHUCK GREEN Back in 2008, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were in trouble. In fact, without government intervention, they faced imminent collapse, and on Sept. 6 of that year, both were placed in conservatorship by the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency. With those conservatorships hitting their 15th anniversary, William Emmons, an adjunct lecturer at Washington University in St. Louis, said the takeover was historically significant because they were the first large-scale government interventions in what came to be known as the Global Financial Crisis. “In other words, their collapse was a bellwether of things to come. Lehman Brothers failed one week later, which triggered the chain reaction of collapsing banks, AIG, and market confidence,” Emmons told The…

Calabria Seeks To End Conservatorship By Jan. 20

Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Mark Calabria is trying to pull Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac out of conservatorship before the Trump Administration ends on January 20, the Wall Street Journal reported. Mark Calabria, a libertarian economist who heads the Federal Housing Finance Agency, has made it a priority to return Fannie and Freddie to private hands, a goal shared by Mr. Mnuchin. How that is done could affect the cost and availability of mortgages backed by the companies, which guarantee roughly half of the $11 trillion in existing home loans. Completing the complex process before President Trump’s term ends on Jan. 20 is a long shot, and President-elect Joe Biden is considered unlikely to continue the effort. But Messrs.…

Freddie Appoints CFO Amid Conservatorship Exit Prep

Christian M. Lown will be the new chief financial officer and executive vice president of Freddie Mac as the company seeks to emerge from conservatorship, Freddie announced Tuesday. Lown replaces Donald F. Kish, who has served as interim CFO since December. Kish will continue serving as Senior Vice President, Corporate Controller and Principal Accounting Officer. “I am excited to join Freddie Mac as the company prepares for its next chapter and I look forward to working with such a talented management team and innovative company,” said Lown said. At Navient, Lown was responsible for the accounting, corporate development, financial planning and analysis, investor relations, procurement, treasury, and vendor management functions. Prior to joining Navient in 2017, Lown was Managing Director,…

GSEs Seek Advisors To Leave Conservatorship

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are looking for financial advisors to help them emerge from conservatorship. Each of the GSEs announced they will be issuing a request for proposal on Tuesday to “secure a financial advisor that will facility the company’s responsible exit for conservatorship. The advisors will help Fannie and Freddie on everything from capital considerations to business plans to capital raising activities and more. “Even as we work to stabilize the housing markets during this unprecedented pandemic, Freddie Mac has remained focused on exiting conservatorship responsibly,” David Brickman, Freddie Mac CEO David Brickman said. “Today we begin the competitive selection process for a financial advisor that will ultimately facilitate our return to full private capital ownership. This is…

Fannie Still Predicts Recession

Despite recent optimism surrounding the Federal Reserve’s “soft landing” strategy, economists at Fannie Mae are still expecting a mild recession next year. Fannie Mae’s Economic and Strategic Research Group wrote in a note that mixed economic signals this month make it difficult to guess the near future, but a “modest contraction” in early 2024 remains the most likely outcome of the Fed’s inflation fight. They cite consumption outpacing incomes, big differences between gross domestic product and gross domestic income over the past three quarters, and previous policy tightening still moving through the systems as signs of what’s to come. Additionally, households are expected to restrict spending in the latter part of the year as inflated prices catch up to budgets.…

Housing Starts Tank, But Permits Offer Hope

Housing starts slipped in August as multifamily construction sank, though permits for single-family homes accelerated. New U.S. home construction fell by 11.3% last month, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau, to an annualized rate of 1.28 million. Single-family starts were down 4.3% from July. Permits for new construction rose to their fastest pace in nearly a year, however, up 6.9% to 1.54 million. Permits offer an indication of how many homes will be built in the coming months. Permits for single-family homes in particular soared to their fastest pace since May 2022. This suggests that builders are optimistic about demand moving forward. But they’ve recently taken a hit from the high-rate environment, leading to depressed homebuilder sentiment. The…

Rate Hike Pause Predicted, Investors Watching Closely For End Of Year Indicators

By PATRICK LAVERY With the end of the third quarter of 2023 in sight, indications are that the Federal Reserve will pause hiking its federal funds rate this week – as it did in June before again raising the target range in July – and investors will be watching closely on Wednesday to see if Chairman Jerome Powell gives any indication as to what they might do to end the calendar year. The FOMC’s course of action, while holding no direct bearing on mortgage rates, acts as a strong indicator of what direction those rates will go in next. According to Business Insider, a pause on the part of the Fed won’t do much to move mortgage rates, currently above…

One-On-One With CEO William Tessar Of CV3 Financial Services

CV3 Financial Services, a private lender providing financing for fix-and-flip and rental properties in more than 20 states, was recently launched and CEO William Tessar says they aim to be leaders in the business purpose loan industry. Tessar, who is the former president of Civic Financial Services, has a team behind him that originated and funded more than $10 billion in private money loans over the last five years. That includes 150 originators, operations, and business support staff, according to a press release. CV3 Financial Services is based in Los Angeles County. Using a digital lending platform, all processing, underwriting, and funding is completed under one roof. Tessar recently sat down with Editor Kimberley Haas to talk about his career,…

Mortgage Activity Suffered Under High Rates In August

Mortgage activity dipped in August as rates reached new highs and inventory remained low, according to Black Knight’s latest Mortgage Monitor report. The 30-year conforming soared above 7.25% last month, its highest level in more than 20 years, before cooling down to 7.07%. As a result, overall rate lock volumes sank for a third straight month, down 1.5% from July.  “August was another rough month for mortgage borrowers from an interest rate perspective,” said Andy Walden, VP of enterprise research and strategy at Black Knight. “Rates did edge down toward the end of August, but prospective homebuyers still face the least affordable housing market in nearly 40 years.” The biggest driver was purchase volume, which fell almost a full 2%…

Flyhomes Acquires Home Sale Assured

Cash offer fintech Flyhomes announced it is acquiring “buy before you sell” leader Home Sale Assured. Home Sale Assured, a platform owned by Innovative Holdings, LLC, is known for its Guaranteed Backup Contract, which allows homeowners to confidently purchase their next house before selling their own. Flyhomes will acquire the Home Sale Assured brand, and founder Eric Meadow will join the company as a senior executive. “Eric is a seasoned mortgage professional who has built something really special with the Guaranteed Backup Contract,” Tushar Garg, co-founder and CEO at Flyhomes, said. “Its ability to remove friction from the buying and selling process, while adding assurance, flexibility, and customer-centricity, aligns perfectly with our core tenants here at Flyhomes. This deal strengthens…