What a difference a year makes: Freddie Mac posted an $11 billion annual profit in 2012, compared to its $5.3 billion loss in 2011.
‘In 2012, Freddie Mac significantly improved its financial performance and returned more than $7 billion to America's taxpayers through dividends,’ says Freddie Mac CEO Donald H. Layton. ‘It's clear from our earnings that the housing market has turned a corner and that our work to minimize legacy losses and build a strong new book of business is paying off.’
As of the end of 2012, Freddie Mac reports that its delinquency rates were below industry benchmarks, with a 3.25% serious delinquency rate on single-family housing and a 0.19% multifamily housing delinquency rate.
‘We played a leading role in helping America's homeowners last year, working with our lender customers to streamline programs to assist more distressed borrowers while expanding access to affordable mortgage funding through programs like the Home Affordable Refinance Program,’ Layton adds. ‘In 2012, we helped 2.5 million families to buy, refinance or rent a home and another 170,000 to avoid foreclosure – bringing the total to nearly 10 million since the start of the housing crisis. We continue to work with our regulator, our customers and the industry to support the housing market and build a stronger mortgage finance system for the nation.’