Officials Worry Mortgage Market Saviors Freddie and Fannie Will Fail

[babylonsister]

Doubts Raised on Big Backers of Mortgages

By CHARLES DUHIGG
Published: May 6, 2008


As home prices continue their free fall and banks shy away from lending, Washington officials have increasingly relied on two giant mortgage companies — Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — to keep the housing market afloat.

But with mortgage defaults and foreclosures rising, Bush administration officials, regulators and lawmakers are nervously asking whether these two companies, would-be saviors of the housing market, will soon need saving themselves.

The companies, which say fears that they might falter are baseless, have recently received broad new powers and billions of dollars of investing authority from the federal government. And as Wall Street all but abandons the mortgage business, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac now overwhelmingly dominate it, handling more than 80 percent of all mortgages bought by investors in the first quarter of this year. That is more than double their market share in 2006.

But some financial experts worry that the companies are dangerously close to the edge, especially if home prices go through another steep decline. Their combined cushion of $83 billion — the capital that their regulator requires them to hold — underpins a colossal $5 trillion in debt and other financial commitments.

The companies, which were created by Congress but are owned by investors, suffered more than $9 billion in mortgage-related losses last year, and analysts expect those losses to grow this year. Fannie Mae is to release its latest financial results on Tuesday and Freddie Mac is to report earnings next week.

more...

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/06/business/06fannie.html?_r=1&hp=&oref=slogin&pagewanted=all&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1210071674-iq4Jp2PwT3cK6Ql44Jhxlg

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Bernanke urges more action to stem home foreclosure crisis

Bernanke warns of dangers posed by surging home foreclosures, urges Congress to act

JEANNINE AVERSA
AP News

May 06, 2008 07:46 EST


A rising tide of late mortgage payments and home foreclosures poses considerable dangers to the national economy, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke warned anew Monday as he urged Congress to take additional steps to alleviate the problems.

"High rates of delinquency and foreclosure can have substantial spillover effects on the housing market, the financial markets and the broader economy," Bernanke said in a dinner speech to Columbia Business School in New York. "Therefore, doing what we can to avoid preventable foreclosures is not just in the interest of lenders and borrowers. It's in everybody's interest," he said.

Some 1.5 million U.S. homes entered into the foreclosure process last year, up 53 percent from 2006, Bernanke said. The rate of new foreclosures looks likely to be even higher this year, he said.

To provide more relief, Bernanke again called on Congress to give the Federal Housing Administration, which insures mortgages, more flexibility to help distressed borrowers at risk of losing their homes. He also again urged lawmakers to move ahead on legislation revamping Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which finance mortgages. And, he called on the two mortgage giants to quickly raise new capital.

more...

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/2008/05/bernanke_urges_more_action_to_1.php

[Pale Blue Dot]

1. Fannie Mae posts another loss, cuts dividend

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24480737/

Fannie Mae said Tuesday it lost $2.2 billion in the first quarter as home-loan delinquencies mounted and home prices declined more sharply than the mortgage finance company had expected.

The company said it expects “severe weakness” in the housing market to continue this year, bringing increased mortgage defaults and foreclosures.

Fannie Mae, the largest U.S. buyer and backer of home loans, said it would raise $6 billion by selling new stock. The company will cut its dividend, starting in the third quarter, to 25 cents a share, to generate around $390 million a year.

[flashl]

2. They are NOW worried?

An early warning is described in this June 28, 1990 article: The Six Trillion Dollar Debt Iceberg; A Review of the Government's Risk Exposure

The government has created a number of off-budget enterprises and is responsible for their finances. These government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) technically are private organizations, but in practice are treated and act as extensions of the federal government. Several of these enterprises add to the real estate exposure due the troubled mortgage insurance schemes.

...

Collectively, the five government-sponsored enterprises had an outstanding debt obligation of $763 billion at the end of 1989; and they are the fastest growing source of federal credit exposure.

[dkf]

3. This is bad news...

Guess we haven't seen the end yet.

[spanone]

4. the real bad news will be when bu$h* leaves office and we find out the real truth