Fannie Mae reported a net income of $11.8 billion, while Freddie Mac reported profits of $7.3 billion.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have released their financial results for 2020. Record-low rates and rising home prices came as a boon to the firms, offsetting losses caused by the pandemic. Fannie Mae reported an annual net income of $11.8 billion, down by $2.4 billion in 2019. Fannie attributed the decrease to a transition from credit-related income to credit-related expenses and reduced investment gains. The decline was partially offset by a spike in net profits spurred by record refinancing activity levels last year. Those brought the lender’s net worth to grow from $14.6 billion in 2019 to $25.3 billion in 2020. In Q4 2020, Freddie posted a $2.9 billion net income, bringing its profits to $7.3 billion and net worth up to $16.4 billion by the end of the year. However, COVID-19 costs offset the firm’s strong financial performance in 2020. Freddie said that its annual credit-related expenses increased from $191 million in 2019 to $2.3 billion by the end of 2020. But home price growth helped shift a $327 provision for losses in Q3 to an $813 million gain in Q4. 

Source: Mortgage Professional America