Will Fannie and Freddie go public? It could happen — soon 

A new era for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac appears to be on the horizon as reports emerge about preparations to take both government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) public. Elsewhere in Washington, D.C., a Republican senator has introduced new legislation to bring crypto into mortgages, and the president has appointed a new Federal Reserve governor.

GSE privatization push strengthens

The Trump administration is reportedly going full steam ahead with its plan to sell stock in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

The GSEs are expected to go public before the end of 2025 — though whether they'll do so together or under separate initial public offerings has not yet been decided, The Wall Street Journal reported on Aug. 8, citing unnamed sources familiar with the discussions.

Real Estate News reached out to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac for comment.

The timeline surfaced in the wake of meetings that President Donald Trump held to discuss the future of Fannie and Freddie with leadership from several major banks in recent weeks, according to the paper. Those meetings followed months of speculation about long-term change at the GSEs, which first kicked off when Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte reorganized both boards of directors and named himself the chair of each.

The possibility of privatizing Fannie and Freddie is not new, as Trump himself said he was "working on TAKING THESE AMAZING COMPANIES PUBLIC" in a May Truth Social post, adding that the government "will keep its implicit GUARANTEES" while he "will stay strong in my position on overseeing them as President." Neither he nor Pulte provided information at the time regarding when this would occur.

Trump's comments back in May received swift pushback from top Democrats who oppose privatization, with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer predicting that taking the GSEs public "will upend middle-class Americans looking to buy or refinance a home while helping line the pockets of the wealthy."

If the reported plan moves forward, Fannie and Freddie could together be valued at around $500 billion, with a share sale expected to bring in $30 billion, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The move "could mark a seismic shift in housing finance," Realtor.com Senior Economist Jake Krimmel said. "But the long-standing assumption of an implicit government guarantee remains key for the financial system and consumers. Historically, that perception has kept mortgage rates low and helped ensure access to mortgage credit for borrowers across income levels."

So how will privatization affect consumers? "If an IPO weakens the market's belief that the government stands behind the GSEs in a crisis, mortgage costs could rise and access to credit could tighten, especially in a downturn," Krimmel said.

DOJ official who testified against NAR fired

Roger Alford, a University of Notre Dame Law School professor who testified against the National Association of Realtors during the commissions cases, has been fired from his new role at the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) just weeks after his appointment.

Alford was named a principal deputy assistant attorney in the DOJ's Antitrust Division in June. He briefly served under Assistant Attorney General Gail Slater before he and another on Slater's team, Bill Rinner, were fired on July 28, according to multiple media outlets.

CBS News reported that insubordination was mentioned in their termination, though exact causes for the firings were not specified. Real Estate News reached out to the DOJ for comment.

While testifying in the Sitzer/Burnett trial in October 2023, Alford identified steering as one of the major problems he sees within real estate. He also made the case for lower commissions in a 2021 paper about anticompetition in the homebuying and selling process.

With Alford now out, it is unclear how much focus the DOJ's Antitrust Division will place on organizations like NAR moving forward.

Crypto in mortgage lending?

Sen. Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming is pushing for change in mortgage lending with new legislation that aims to bring the process "into the digital age," according to a July 29 press release from her office. The bill, which Lummis dubbed the 21^st Century Mortgage Act, would require Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to consider digital assets — including cryptocurrency — in mortgage underwriting.

"The American dream of homeownership is not a reality for many young people," Lummis said in the release. "This legislation embraces an innovative path to wealth-building keeping in mind the growing number of young Americans who possess digital assets."

If the legislation becomes law, it would solidify a directive Pulte issued in June for the GSEs "to prepare their businesses to count cryptocurrency as an asset for a mortgage."

"We're living in a digital age," Lummis said, "and rather than punishing innovation, government agencies must evolve to meet the needs of a modern, forward-thinking generation."

Trump picks new Fed governor

On Aug. 7, Trump announced that Stephen Miran will replace Adriana Kugler on the Fed's Board of Governors.

Kugler first joined the board in Sept. 2023 and announced on Aug. 1 that she was resigning, effective Aug. 8. Kugler did not participate in the central bank's July 29-30 meeting, according to The Associated Press, during which the Fed elected to leave short-term interest rates unchanged.

Miran, who currently serves as chair of the Council of Economic Advisors, will complete Kugler's term, which expires at the end of January 2026. "In the meantime, we will continue to search for a permanent replacement," Trump said in an Aug. 7 Truth Social post.