Standard & Poor’s downgraded the credit rating of lenders backed by the federal government on the heels of the first-ever lowering of the U.S.’s credit rating.
Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and other government-backed lenders were lowered one step from AAA to AA+, S&P reported in a statement issued Monday. Some analysts say the downgrade may force home buyers to pay higher mortgage rates.
"The downgrades of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac reflect their direct reliance on the U.S. government,” S&P said in a statement. “Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were placed into conservatorship in September 2008 and their ability to fund operations relies heavily on the U.S. government.”
The GSEs own or guarantee more than half of U.S. mortgage debt.
Freddie Mac said that the lower debt rating will cause “major disruptions” in its home-lending by possibly reducing the supply of mortgages it can purchase. It said in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing that the lower rating could hamper home prices and even lead to more home-loan defaults on mortgages it guarantees.
Meanwhile, the Federal Housing Finance Agency on Monday assured investors that securities issued by GSEs are sound. "The government commitment to ensure Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have sufficient capital to meet their obligations, as provided for in the Treasury's senior preferred stock purchase agreement with each enterprise, remains unaffected by the Standard & Poor's action," said Edward DeMarco, FHFA acting director.
Some analysts and lenders have said they don’t see the fallout from the S&P downgrade on the U.S. and other banks as having such a widespread affect. "It's likely that once the storm passes, you'll get an increase in mortgage rates because of this, but it won't be significant,” says Anika Khan, a housing economist at Wells Fargo.
S&P also announced on Monday that it had lowered its credit ratings for 10 of 12 federal home loan banks and federal farm credit banks from AAA to AA+.
Source: “S&P Lowers Fannie, Freddie Citing Reliance on Government,” Bloomberg (Aug. 8, 2011); “S&P Downgrades Fannie and Freddie, Farm Lenders and Bank Debt Backed by U.S. Government,” Associated Press (Aug. 8, 2011); “Freddie Mac Reports $4.7B Loss, Says S&P Downgrade Will Disrupt Mortgage Market,” Associated Press (Aug. 8, 2011); and “FHFA Assures Investors After Fannie, Freddie Downgrade,” HousingWire (Aug. 8. 2011)
Reprinted from REALTOR® Magazine Online, August, 2011, with permission of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®. Copyright 2011. All rights reserved. http://realtormag.realtor.org.
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