WASHINGTON-Both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac reported huge new losses will require more government aid, pegged at more than $175 billion now.
Fannie reported a first quarter loss of $23.2 billion, which will necessitate another $19 billion in assistance. The company reported "there is significant uncertainty as to our long-term financial sustainability." Even more government aid, it said, "may not be sufficient to keep us in a solvent condition."
The first quarter loss compares to a loss of $2.5 billion for the first quarter last year.
Freddie said it lost $6.1 billion in the first quarter and will need almost $10 billion more from the government.
Both government sponsored enterprises were taken under conservatorship by the federal government last September.
The first quarter reports came amid indicators that credit unions are relying more on the two secondary mortgage market giants to buy their mortgages, as most other sources in the secondary market have ceases buying mortgages.
NAFCU, which has an affinity agreement with Fannie, said its latest Flash Report survey shows that those credit unions that have partnered with Fannie Mae through the NAFCU program saw a whopping 242% increase in total delivery volume in the first quarter of 2009 vs. the same period last year. In addition, the total number of loans delivered was up 227%.
The survey shows the increase in real estate-secured loans accounted for 73.4 percent of total loan growth at credit unions during the last 12 months (February to February).
