Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's oversight chief has hinted that decisions about whether to change some loan-level price adjustments are imminent.
"We are nearing the end of our review of certain LLPAs. Decisions coming soon," Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte wrote in an X post late Thursday.
Changes to the fees applied to the mortgages lenders sell to Fannie and Freddie directly affect the industry's per-loan earnings, so housing finance firms have been watching closely for action in this area.
Pulte's wording suggests the change won't necessarily be broad-based and he has mentioned interest in reviewing different types of LLPAs since he started leading the agency in 2025.
Last fall, Pulte revealed that he tapped MBS Highway CEO and Fannie Mae board member Barry Habib to review and "fix" loan-level price adjustments.
Multiple experts later speculated at the time that Pulte's agency might look to make LLPA moves that would encourage more investor and second home activity.
However, Pulte's more recent comments around potential changes to pricing have focused more on moves that would impact GSE loans that finance new-build homes. He is the grandson of the late William J. Pulte, the namesake founder of a major homebuilder, Pulte Homes.
Other recent initiatives Pulte has been focused on more recently where new pricing has or could come into play include additional credit score options.
More than half of the market or 59% of those responding to NMN's Predictions 2026 survey indicated that they were anticipating the enterprises would probably (48%) or definitely (11%) lower LLPAs this year.
The last major LLPA overhaul in 2023, which involved a recalibration of the cross-subsidization long used to boost affordability for certain loans, drew mixed reviews.
Some analysts have said they consider a significant or broad-based LLPA cut unlikely now because it could have a negative impact on the government-sponsored enterprises' earnings.
The adjustments are closely linked to capital requirements that the GSEs have. These requirements call for Fannie and Freddie to ensure they collect sufficient revenue for capital buffers against the kind of default risk that drove them into conservatorship in 2008.
Rebuilding those buffers is considered a key step in potentially allowing for the first new GSE stock offerings since conservatorship and possibly an eventual release, but officials appear to have retreated from near-term action to this end.
And the Trump administration has been interested in lowering rates for borrowers, which some policy experts have said the LLPA cuts would be a means of achieving. The GSEs also have engaged in mortgage-backed securities purchases to that end.
Mortgage rates have experienced some upward pressure recently but inched down the past two weeks in Freddie Mac's survey.
Pulte recently turned his attention back to FHFA full-time after a period where he also served as national intelligence director.
Other past priorities Pulte has shown renewed interest in recently include data-based mortgage fraud prevention efforts that were the basis for allegations President Trump has been citing in efforts to remove Lisa Cook from the Federal Reserve Board.
He additionally has said in social media posts that he is making adjustments to any GSE lending programs he views as serving the interest of specialized groups in order to ensure they are open to the broader market.
