- Business
- Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac) operates as a government-sponsored enterprise in the secondary mortgage market of the United States, purchasing, securitizing, and guaranteeing conventional conforming single-family and multifamily residential mortgage loans originated by lenders including mortgage banking companies, commercial banks, regional banks, community banks, credit unions, housing finance agencies, savings institutions, and non-depository institutions; it issues mortgage-backed securities (MBS) such as single-family Participation certificates, Multifamily K-Series certificates, and Structured Pass-Through certificates, while also managing mortgage credit and market risk, investing in mortgage loans and mortgage-related securities, and issuing corporate debt securities to fund operations. Freddie Mac conducts its activities through two primary segments: the Single-Family segment, which supports homeownership by acquiring fixed-rate and adjustable-rate mortgages on one- to four-unit properties including condominiums, manufactured homes, and properties in high-cost areas, offering products like Home Possible mortgages for low- to moderate-income borrowers, HomeOne for first-time homebuyers, Relief Refinance and Home Affordable Refinance Program loans, and closed-end second mortgages on existing first liens via a pilot program approved by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) in 2024; and the Multifamily segment, which finances affordable rental housing nationwide for properties ranging from five units to large complexes including seniors, student, subsidized, and manufactured housing communities, with approximately 90% of financed units affordable to low- or moderate-income renters, serving banks, depository institutions, insurance companies, money managers, central banks, pension funds, state and local governments, REITs, brokers, and dealers. The company, chartered by Congress on July 24, 1970, and headquartered at 8200 Jones Branch Drive in McLean, Virginia, with regional offices in Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, and New York, remains under FHFA conservatorship since 2008 and provides liquidity, stability, and affordability to the U.S. housing finance system. In recent developments, Freddie Mac's multifamily lending volume reached $66 billion in 2024, up 34% year-over-year, with FHFA setting a $73 billion purchase cap for 2025 that Freddie Mac anticipates meeting amid market forecasts of $370-380 billion in total multifamily originations; the company launched Quality Control Advisor Plus, an automated platform for single-family loan quality control rolling out fully by year-end 2025 to enhance efficiency; introduced a pilot for closed-end second mortgage purchases in 2024 to aid borrowers in high-rate environments particularly in rural and underserved areas; participated in new-issue K-Series securitizations like FREMF 2024-K165 and 2025-K172 supporting multifamily acquisitions; and deepened commitments to affordable housing through its 2025-2027 Underserved Markets Plan, including shared equity homeownership financing exceeding 500 homes since 2019 and over $3.3 billion in partnerships with Impact Sponsors for workforce rental units in 2024.