FHFA director notes opportunities to 'trim the fat' at the GSE
Fannie Mae reported net income of $3.7 billion in 2025’s first quarter, with net worth hitting $98.3 billion as Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) director Bill Pulte hinted at further cuts at the government-sponsored enterprise.
Its quarterly earnings release, issued Wednesday, showed Fannie provided $76 billion in liquidity during the quarter, financing about 287,000 home purchases, refinancings and rental units.
Fannie said it had purchased about 144,000 single-family purchase loans – around half for first-time buyers – and around 50,000 single-family refinance loans during the first quarter, while it also financed roughly 93,000 multifamily rental housing units in Q1.
Pulte, who’s overseen sweeping cuts at the GSE, signaled further cost-lowering moves could be ahead, noting “great opportunity to trim the fat, turn the business around, generate more earnings, and do so all while ensuring safety and soundness.”
In early April, Fannie said it had terminated over 100 employees, citing alleged unethical conduct including the facilitation of fraud.
Revenues of $7.1 billion in Q1, Fannie said, were spurred mainly by guaranty fees on its guaranty book of business, which totals around $4.1 trillion.
It generated $5.9 billion in single-family revenues from a conventional guaranty book with an average charged guaranty fee of 48.1 basis points, and $1.2 billion in multifamily revenues from its $504.5 billion guaranty book with an average charged guaranty fee of 74.1 basis points.
Acquisition volume on the single-family side was up slightly compared with the same time last year, jumping to $64.3 billion from $62.3 billion, although purchase acquisition volume fell to $50.1 billion compared with $53 billion the same time last year.
Refinance acquisition volume also ticked higher, hitting $14.2 billion in Q1 compared to $9.3 billion in 2024’s first quarter.
Serious delinquencies in its single-family portfolio remained largely unchanged from the previous quarter, sitting at 0.56%, but increased on the multifamily side – rising to 0.63% from 0.57%.
Fannie eked out growth on the multifamily side, with volume rising to $11.8 billion compared with $10.1 billion the same time last year.
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