Articles About Fannie Mae

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is starting to look at ways to back off from the central bank’s heroic efforts to keep the nation’s economy afloat through the financial crisis of the past 18 months. The trick to raising short-term interest rates, which have been at historic lows for more than a year, is to […]

Congressman Barney Frank (D-MA) wants to scrap Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in favor of an entirely new mortgage-financing system. According to Frank, Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee and who previously supported the programs, “The committee will be recommending abolishing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in their current forms and coming up with […]

Homeowners facing foreclosure will soon be able to rent their homes from the government controlled Fannie Mae. Called Deed to LeaseTM,  the program lets homeowners transfer ownership of their home to Fannie Mae. They then sign a one-year lease, with the option of month-to-month extensions available.  Fannie Mae will try to sell the homes during […]

The federal government’s program to help homeowners facing foreclosure has reached its target of 500,000 mortgage modifications by November 1.  “There is a lot of work left to do,” said Shaun Donovan, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.  “Today’s announcement is a good step forward, but we are nowhere near the finish line.”  The long-term […]

Investment banks are hunkering down to preserve capital, primarily because there are grave concerns about current property valuations, says Charles Krawitz, Senior Loan Sales Asset Manager, Fifth Third Bank, in an interview for The Alter Group podcasts on real estate.  Banks are reluctant to lend $10 million to a property that might be worth only […]

A rather unexpected source may rescue the stalled Chicago Spire  condominium project – and pump significant money into Chicago’s battered economy by creating thousands of construction jobs.  Representatives from the AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trusts are in early discussions with developer Shelbourne Development Group to revive construction of the twisting Santiago Calatrava-designed condominium tower, located on […]

Nine million homeowners can breathe a preliminary sigh of relief.  They may get to keep their homes now that President Obama has unveiled his ambitious – and larger than expected — $75 billion mortgage relief plan.  At the same time, the Treasury Department will double the size of its support of Fannie Mae and Freddie […]

What recession? A recent conversation with a friend revealed the unexpected nugget that at least one segment of the credit industry is alive and extremely well. The friend’s mortgage broker daughter is taking a leave of absence from law school to concentrate her energies on processing all the refinance applications coming her way – a […]

With change expected to begin in Washington, D.C., on January 20, 2009, the commercial real estate industry is bracing itself for the incoming Obama administration and the 111th Congress.  CoStar Advisor recently polled commercial real estate professionals on the top issues of the first 100 days.  The resulting list includes such policy issues as saying […]

Stressed single-family homeowners trying to pay their mortgages might be in for some relief after a recent move by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the nation’s leading mortgage-finance issuers.  Since being placed under a government conservatorship in September, Fannie and Freddie have devised a plan to help homeowners who are 90 days behind in their […]