Fannie Mae-No Politics (FNMA)

[Robert from yahoo bd]

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/american-house-prices-still-rising-191124922.html

"Although demand for homes has fallen as rates have risen, the supply of properties has fallen almost in lockstep. Homebuyers typically obtain fixed-rate mortgages for 30 years—unheard of in most countries but viewed almost as a constitutional right in America, owing to the role of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, two giant government-backed firms, which buy up mortgages from lenders and securitise them. In enabling lenders to offer long-term fixed rates, their objective is to make it easier for people to buy homes. But at the moment long-term rates are serving as an impediment, since homeowners who got low-interest mortgages before the Fed ratcheted up rates have no desire to give them up, and so are unwilling to sell their homes. Redfin, a property platform, calculates that about 82% of homeowners have mortgage rates below 5%. Charlie Dougherty of Wells Fargo, a bank, calls it “a state of suspended animation” for the housing market."