Section 1601 of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 (HERA) requires the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) to conduct an ongoing study of the guarantee fees charged by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the Enterprises) for guaranteeing a mortgage. HERA further requires that FHFA annually submit a report to Congress on the results of its guarantee-fee study. HERA requires the report to contain an analysis of the average guarantee fee and a breakdown by product type, risk class, and seller size. Finally, HERA requires that the report reflect an analysis of the costs associated with providing guarantees and an analysis of any increase or decrease in guarantee fees from the preceding year.
In this report, FHFA identifies and analyzes the single-family guarantee fees charged by the Enterprises in 2023. This report compares and contrasts the Enterprises’ 2023 guarantee fees with the preceding year.
Significant findings in the report indicate:
- For all loan products combined, the average single-family guarantee fee increased by 5 basis points to 66 basis points in 2023. The ongoing portion of the guarantee fee increased by 4 basis points to 48 basis points, on average, in 2023.
- The average guarantee fee in 2023 on 30-year fixed-rate loans rose by 3 basis points to 66 basis points, while the average guarantee fee on 15-year fixed-rate loans increased by 5 basis points to 47 basis points.