The Federal National Mortgage Association, commonly known as Fannie Mae, was created by the U.S. congress in 1938, in order to maintain liquidity and stability in the domestic mortgage market. The company is a government-sponsored enterprise (GSE), meaning that while it was a publicly traded company for most of its history, it was still supported by the federal government. While there is no legally binding guarantee of shares in GSEs or their securities, it is generally acknowledged that the U.S. government is highly unlikely to let these enterprises fail. Due to these implicit guarantees, GSEs are able to access financing at a reduced cost of interest. Fannie Mae's main activity is the purchasing of mortgage loans from their originators (banks, mortgage brokers etc.) and packaging them into mortgage-backed securities (MBS) in order to ease the access of U.S. homebuyers to housing credit. The early 2000s U.S. mortgage finance boom During the early 2000s, Fannie Mae was swept up in the U.S. housing boom which eventually led to the financial crisis of 2007-2008. The association's stated goal of increasing access of lower income families to housing finance coalesced with the interests of private mortgage lenders and Wall Street investment banks, who had become heavily reliant on the housing market to drive profits. Private lenders had begun to offer riskier mortgage loans in the early 2000s due to low interest rates in the wake of the "Dot Com" crash and their need to maintain profits through increasing the volume of loans on their books. The securitized products created by these private lenders did not maintain the standards which had traditionally been upheld by GSEs. Due to their market share being eaten into by private firms, however, the GSEs involved in the mortgage markets began to also lower their standards, resulting in a 'race to the bottom'. The fall of Fannie Mae The lowering of lending standards was a key factor in creating the housing bubble, as mortgages were now being offered to borrowers with little or no ability to repay the loans. Combined with fraudulent practices from credit ratings agencies, who rated the junk securities created from these mortgage loans as being of the highest standard, this led directly to the financial panic that erupted on Wall Street beginning in 2007. As the U.S. economy slowed down in 2006, mortgage delinquency rates began to spike. Fannie Mae's losses in the mortgage security market in 2006 and 2007, along with the losses of the related GSE 'Freddie Mac', had caused its share value to plummet, stoking fears that it may collapse. On September 7th 2008, Fannie Mae was taken into government conservatorship along with Freddie Mac, with their stocks being delisted from stock exchanges in 2010. This act was seen as an unprecedented direct intervention into the economy by the U.S. government, and a symbol of how far the U.S. housing market had fallen.

The global Mortgage-Backed Security market is poised for robust growth, with its market size projected to reach XX million in 2033, driven by a CAGR of XX% during the forecast period 2025-2033. Key drivers fueling this growth include increasing demand for residential and commercial mortgages, government support for housing markets, and the ongoing trend of securitization. However, factors such as rising interest rates, economic uncertainties, and regulatory challenges may pose restraints to market expansion. The market is segmented into types (commercial MBS, residential MBS) and applications (commercial banks, real estate enterprises, trust plans). Residential MBS dominate the market due to the high demand for home loans. Prominent players in the market include Construction Bank, ICBC, and Bank of China, among others. North America and Asia Pacific are expected to be key regional markets, with the US, China, and India driving growth. The study period for this analysis is 2019-2033, with the base year being 2025 and the forecast period extending from 2025 to 2033. Mortgage-backed securities (MBS) are financial instruments that are backed by a pool of mortgages. They are typically issued by government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, but can also be issued by private banks and investment firms. MBS offer investors a way to invest in the housing market without having to purchase a physical property.

Type of Mortgage Loan:Conventional Mortgage Loans: Backed by private investors and typically require a down payment of 20% or more.Jumbo Loans: Loans that exceed the conforming loan limits set by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.Government-insured Mortgage Loans: Backed by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), or U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).Others: Includes non-QM loans, reverse mortgages, and shared equity programs.Mortgage Loan Terms:30-year Mortgage: The most common term, offering low monthly payments but higher overall interest costs.20-year Mortgage: Offers a shorter repayment period and lower long-term interest costs.15-year Mortgage: The shortest term, providing lower interest rates and faster equity accumulation.Others: Includes adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) and balloons loans.Interest Rate:Fixed-rate Mortgage Loan: Offers a stable interest rate over the life of the loan.Adjustable-rate Mortgage Loan (ARM): Offers an initial interest rate that may vary after a certain period, potentially leading to higher or lower monthly payments.Provider:Primary Mortgage Lender: Originates and services mortgages directly to borrowers.Secondary Mortgage Lender: Purchases mortgages from originators and packages them into securities for sale to investors. Key drivers for this market are: Digital platforms and AI-driven credit assessments have simplified the application process, improving accessibility and borrower experience. Potential restraints include: Fluctuations in interest rates significantly impact borrowing costs, affecting loan demand and affordability. Notable trends are: The adoption of online portals and mobile apps is transforming the mortgage process with faster approvals and greater transparency.

During the Global Financial Crisis of 2007-2008, a number of systemically important financial institutions in the United States declared bankruptcy, sought takeovers to prevent financial failure, or turned to the U.S. government for bailouts. Two of these institutions, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, were government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs), meaning that they were set up by the federal government in order to steer credit towards lower income homebuyers through interventions in the secondary mortgage market. While both were chartered by the government, they were also publicly traded companies, with a majority of shares owned by private investors. The fall of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac These GSEs' business model was based on buying mortgages from their originators (banks, mortgage brokers, etc.) and then packaging groups of these mortgages together as mortgage-backed securities (MBS), before selling these on again to private investors. While this allowed the expansion of mortgage credit, meaning that many Americans were able to buy houses who would not have in other cases, this also contributed to the growing speculation in the housing market and related financial derivatives, such as MBS. The lowering of mortgage lending standards by originators in the early 2000s, as well as the need for GSEs to compete with their private sector rivals, meant that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac became caught up in the financial mania associated with the early 2000s U.S. housing bubble. As their losses mounted due to the bursting of the bubble in 2007, both companies came under increasing financial stress, finally being brought into government conservatorship in September 2008. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were eventually unlisted from stock exchanges in 2010.

Graph and download economic data for Delinquency Rate on Single-Family Residential Mortgages, Booked in Domestic Offices, All Commercial Banks (DRSFRMACBS) from Q1 1991 to Q1 2025 about domestic offices, delinquencies, 1-unit structures, mortgage, family, residential, commercial, domestic, banks, depository institutions, rate, and USA.

From landing page:FHFA establishes annual single-family and multifamily housing goals for mortgages purchased by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The Enterprise Housing Goals include separate categories for single-family mortgages on housing that is affordable to low-income and very low-income families, as well as refinanced mortgages for low-income borrowers. FHFA also establishes separate annual goals for multifamily housing. Loans that are eligible for housing goals credit are mortgages on owner-occupied housing with one to four units. The mortgages must be conventional, conforming mortgages, defined as mortgages that are not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Housing Administration or another government agency and with principal balances that do not exceed the conforming loan limits for Enterprise mortgages. This page provides data on Enterprise performance and activity related to the single-family housi​​ng goals. A full glossary of terms is provided below. Single-Family Enterprise Mortgage Acquisitions: Race and Ethnicity Data The new housing goals data tables provide insight on the racial and ethnic composition of loans acquired by the Enterprises that are eligible for housing goals credit. FHFA has provided the racial and ethnic distribution of the Enterprises' acquisitions across each of the current single-family housing goals categories. ​ Single-Family Housing Goal Loan Segments: State-Level Data FHFA is publishing state-level data for each single-family goal loan purchase and refinance segment. It is important to note that FHFA does not set state-level targets but only at the national level. These tables provide the Enterprises' share in each state along with the market share, as calculated by FHFA using the 'static' HMDA data for each year to determine Enterprise housing goals performance each year. It is important to note that HMDA state-level data are impacted by the number of HMDA-exempt reporters in each state. For more information on HMDA reporting requirements, visit the CFPB HMDA Reporting Requirements page.Low-Income Census Tracts, Minority Census Tracts and Designated Disaster Areas Data The Federal Housing Enterprises Financial Safety and Soundness Act of 1992 (Safety and Soundness Act) provides for the establishment of single-family and multifamily goals each year, including a single-family purchase money mortgage goal for families residing in low-income areas. The Safety and Soundness Act defines "low-income area" for the single-family low-income areas home purchase goal as: Census tracts or block numbering areas in which the median income does not exceed 80 percent of area median income (AMI). In addition, for the purposes of this goal, "families residing in low-income areas" also include: Families with income not greater than 100 percent of AMI who reside in minority census tracts. Families with income not greater than 100 percent of AMI who reside in designated disaster areas. ​A "minority census tract" is a census tract that has a minority population of at least 30 percent and a median income of less than 100 percent of the AMI. A "low-income census tract" is census tract in which the median income does not exceed 80 percent of the AMI. Designated disaster areas are identified by FHFA based on the three most recent years' declarations by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), where individual assistance payments were authorized by FEMA. A map of census tracts identified as minority census tracts in 2024 can be ​found here. A map of census tracts identified as low-income census tracts in 2024 can be found here. ​Learn more about low-income census tracts, minority census tracts, and designated disaster areas.