Back to the Mortgage Future

The 1990s were marked by steady growth and record revenue. That carried over into the new millennium, fueled by the surge in subprime lending. Amid mounting losses, Fannie and Freddie began to flounder. By September 7, 2008, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), which had since replaced the OFHEO as the GSEs’ regulator, placed Fannie and Freddie into conservatorship.

And that’s where it’s been since. Fannie and Freddie have been an instrumental part of the government’s efforts to curb foreclosures, but the losses keep coming and many question whether Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will ever emerge from conservatorship and go back into the shareholders’ hands.