WASHINGTON—Government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae reported net incomes of $2.9 billion and $4.3 billion, respectively, in the first quarter of 2018.
For the first quarter, Freddie Mac said its single-family guarantee portfolio grew 3% from last year to $1.84 trillion. Fannie Mae said it was the largest issuer of single-family mortgage-related securities in the secondary market in the first quarter, and provided about $113 billion in liquidity to the single-family mortgage market.
No dividend payment to the U.S. Treasury is required from Freddie Mac as the company rebuilds its $3-billion capital buffer. Fannie Mae expects to pay a $938-million dividend to Treasury by June 30.
In December, Treasury and the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced a deal to allow the GSEs to reinstate $3 billion in their capital reserves, an action NAFCU noted it supported. NAFCU wrote to FHFA Director Mel Watt in October 2017 urging the agency to ensure the GSEs' ability to maintain capital in order to provide stability in the event of short-term losses, NAFCU noted.
As a result of last year's tax law, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae's capital buffers were wiped out. In the fourth quarter, Freddie Mac needed $312 million from Treasury and Fannie Mae required $3.7 billion.
Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae have been under the FHFA's conservatorship since 2008. NAFCU said it continues to push for housing reform that guarantees credit unions access to the secondary housing market and for fair pricing based on loan quality instead of volume.