On the tape:
Seventy Florida condominiums, including Miami's the Grand Condominium at 1717 N. Bayshore Drive in Miami and Latitude on the River at 185 S.W. 7th Street, have made Fannie Mae's list of buildings receiving special loan approvals. All 70 are in Miami-Dade County but for one in Jupiter County. With the designation, lenders can originate and deliver mortgage loans in the buildings to Fannie Mae. In the coming weeks, the government-backed mortgage company is expected to approve other projects in Broward and Palm Beach counties. Fannie Mae has been zeroing in on Florida's sluggish condo sales market, hoping that by relaxing its regulations for some projects, condo buyers will once again be able to obtain mortgages. [Emphasis mine]
This should bolster the quality of FNM's portfolio. Beware companies pursuing political goals. Thus far it has not worked out.
Also on the tape (AP):
The Obama administration will wait until 2011 to propose an overhaul of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said Wednesday, arguing that he wanted to put some distance between a new system and what he called "the worst housing crisis in generations."
Geithner also told lawmakers the administration had no intention of including the two entities in the federal budget, even though they were taken over by the government in 2008 as they faced mounting losses from mortgage defaults.
"That's going to be a difficult set of reforms, but we do not believe it's necessary to consolidate the full obligations of those entities onto the balance sheet of the federal government at this stage," Geithner told the House BudgetCommittee. [Emphasis mine]
Now, that is almost funny. They own 79% of this company, exert significant control over it, but unlike any other entity in this country, they don't have to consolidate it. Might this have something to do with debt ceilings? Maybe the addition of nearly $1 trillion in additional debt (on balance sheet debt) might give investors the impression that this country is in significant trouble.
You can't make this stuff up.
Disclosure: No positions except my mortgage - which is performing
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