Fannie, Freddie Boosted Commitments in March

Inman News (04/28/08)
Freddie Mac reports a jump in its retained portfolio mortgage purchase and sales agreements to $43.5 billion in March from $14.8 billion in February, as a reduction in minimum capital requirements by the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO) enabled government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) to boost mortgage purchases by $200 billion. Over the same period, Fannie Mae's retained portfolio mortgage purchase and sales agreements climbed to $31 billion from $25 billion. Overall, Freddie Mac's retained portfolio hit $712.5 billion, expanding at an annual rate of 5 percent, while Fannie Mae's retained portfolio grew at an annual rate of 2 percent to $722.8 billion. OFHEO reports that $2 trillion in mortgages likely will be bought or guaranteed by the GSEs in 2008 due to the lower capital requirements.