GSEs ask for silence on 'proprietary' data.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac may be required to send HUD their data on mortgage purchases, but both want assurances that the data will be treated as proprietary information. And while HUD said it will abide their request for now, a curious development is that the GSEs concern over public release of the data could confirm suspicions that both implement regional pricing strategies, and neither wants their competitorsprivate securitizers and real estate investment trusts, for exampleto have access. Both GSEs conveyed their concerns in letters accompanying the affordable housing goal data each submitted to HUD March 1. The Federal Housing Enterprise Safety and Soundness Act requires them to submit certain data on their mortgage purchases to HUD. HUD issued a temporary order to protect the information the GSEs requested May 31. Fannie Mae requested HUD consider 23 fields of its reported data as proprietary, making up about 21% of all its reported information; HUD reported that Freddie Mac requested the withholding of 48 fields. The letters were published in the June 7 Federal Register, and HUD noted that because the act requires the release of detailed information on specific loans, such as unpaid principal balances and census tract locations, it would reveal what size loans a GSE is willing to buy in a particular area, at what prices, on what terms, and such information will assist competitors in the same ... and other markets.