Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) senior vice president and chief economist Mike Fratantoni, meanwhile, believes it could be several years before Fannie and Freddie are ready for a shift away from majority government ownership.
“The US Treasury has invested hundreds of billions of dollars in these companies and to exit from those positions is going to take some time,” he told MPA, “if they want to do it in a way that doesn’t disrupt the smooth functioning of the market.”
Fratantoni said lenders would benefit from the GSEs behaving more like private companies that government organizations, and highlighted the “frustration” that can arise from excessive regulatory involvement.
FHFA Director Bill Pulte ordered Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac to roll back key housing initiatives, including SPCPs & tenant protections.https://t.co/TL7Xm5F8A3
— Mortgage Professional America Magazine (@MPAMagazineUS) March 27, 2025
At the MBA’s Secondary and Capital Markets conference in New York this week, Pulte described the GSEs as “a bloated enterprise” and said he intended to “get [them] on the treadmill” – but also indicated he would defer to President Trump on a timeline for ending their conservatorship.
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