EVP also believes 50-year mortgages are coming, and could be a good thing
For all the talk this year about removing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from conservatorship, there has been no movement on the issue so far, with only a couple of weeks left in 2025.
Barring a late announcement from the Trump administration, the decision on what to do with the GSEs is likely to be made in 2026. But will we hear what’s next for Fannie and Freddie next year, or will that decision be delayed further?
One executive believes there are still unanswered questions surrounding the GSEs, and what exactly lies ahead for them is unknown.
Roby Robertson (pictured top), EVP of marketing and origination technology strategy at LoanLogics, said the pieces of the future puzzle for Fannie and Freddie still need to be put in place.
“The key is, will they go private?” Robertson told Mortgage Professional America. “I think there's a real possibility there. They'll get out of conservatorship. The biggest question mark, though, is whether they will still have government backing. I don't think that will go away. I just don't think it's what the market wants. I don't think it's what anyone wants. I definitely don't think it's what this administration wants.”
Two horses in the race
Another rumor that surfaced earlier this year is that the administration might combine Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac into one entity. This rumor picked up steam amid downsizing in both organizations. Robertson doesn’t believe that’s going to happen.
“I do believe this administration believes in a fair market, and they do believe in competition,” Robertson said. “They want to create a situation where it's just better for everyone involved to have a competitive atmosphere. I don't think that it makes sense to put those two groups together.
“If you're going to privatize them, you're going to let them go back and do their own thing. It just makes sense for you to have competition in that space, and I think it's just healthier to have two different horses in the race. In case there is an issue with either, you have two outlets to lend to our citizens. It would just make sense to keep them separate.”
Robertson thinks that some of the early talk of consolidation was what he called the “DOGE effect,” a period when the government was looking for places to slash spending it deemed wasteful.
“I think what you saw with the administration early on was the DOGE effect,” he said. “They thought, ‘It just makes sense for the GSEs to consolidate.’ From my side of the fence, I felt like there were a lot of silent rifts to be cleaned up. But I think that started to wane and go away. I think they're more likely to make it go private. They're more likely to keep the funding there, and have them both competing for those same dollars.”
The 50-year mortgage
Another issue that Robertson believes will carry over into 2026 is the addition of a 50-year mortgage as a funding option. In fact, Robertson believes that it will be added in the new year, even though he admits there are pros and cons to the new offering.
“I think obviously there's something to be said on both sides of that argument,” he said. “I think from our seat, it's an opportunity for a lot of borrowers to get access to a home. I think it shows progress. I think it's going to be met with some of the natural fear that the 30-year mortgage met when it first came out. Did that change home prices? For sure, but then those settled out.”
While Robertson acknowledged that one of the primary criticisms of the 50-year mortgage is the inability to build equity quickly, he said the length of time the average person stays in a home, combined with more people able to qualify for a mortgage, should boost home values.
“I think that the 50-year mortgage is going to allow a broader audience of people to get access to those homes,” Robertson said. “I think that's going to impact the prices of homes positively. I think you'll naturally see home prices rise because more people will have access to homes. It's going to create more competition. More competition will create a rise in home prices.”
Brendan McKay of the Broker Action Coalition highlights HR 5508 as a bipartisan solution to remove lifetime FHA mortgage insurance, potentially saving borrowers $181 per month and addressing affordability amid FHA’s record reserves. https://t.co/VQwstTSeYZ
— Mortgage Professional America Magazine (@MPAMagazineUS) December 10, 2025
The main benefit that Robertson sees in a 50-year mortgage is the hope it provides to first-time homebuyers in pricey markets like California and New York.
“I'm in Texas, and in Texas, some prices have gone way up, but they're still very affordable, relatively speaking,” he said. “But there are some areas of the country, like California and New York, that if I were a young first-time homebuyer, I just simply cannot get into a home. I think the 50-year mortgage offers them the opportunity to get into that house in a market with strong stability. You get in the house, you're going to stay in the house.”
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