11/19/2024

The Upcoming Housing Battle that Could Further Roil Mortgage Costs

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac may be going away

A big change to housing policy that many experts anticipate from the new Trump administration could roil the mortgage market and throw an already unsettled real estate industry into more turmoil.

The new administration is widely expected to resume a push to remove Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two national mortgage behemoths that buy up huge quantities of loans, from government control. That initiative was a priority during President-elect Donald Trump's first term, but the pandemic thwarted those plans. Now, though, economists and housing experts say the government has to be especially careful not to reshuffle the companies in a way that raises uncertainty or spooks investors, with mortgage rates already high and affordability at a crisis point.

"It's really a question, not so much of "whether,' but 'how'' the change gets made, said Michael Fratantoni, chief economist at the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA).

Please select this link to read the complete article from The Washington Post.