In a bid to cool elevated home prices, the White House has urged Government-Sponsored Enterprises, including Freddie Mac, to acquire an additional $200 billion of agency mortgage-backed securities over the next 12 months. The proposal calls for allocating roughly $100 billion to Freddie Mac’s existing portfolio, representing a near 40 percent increase on its current holdings of about $260 billion. Officials believe the enlarged footprint in the secondary market will exert downward pressure on 30-year fixed rates, which currently average just over 6 percent, and improve liquidity for lenders. Investor groups caution, however, that expanding GSE balance sheets by this magnitude could re-expose taxpayers to interest-rate and credit risks similar to those seen during the 2008–09 financial crisis.

Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey released January 8, 2026, shows the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.16 percent, up marginally from 6.15 percent the prior week and down from 6.93 percent a year earlier. The 15-year fixed rate climbed to 5.46 percent from 5.44 percent, versus 6.14 percent twelve months ago. Purchase applications have risen over 20 percent year-over-year, according to Chief Economist Sam Khater, as steady economic growth sustains consumer demand. While rates have stayed within a narrow band, analysts warn that any surge in Treasury yields or unexpected inflation readings could quickly push average borrowing costs back toward 7 percent.

In 2025, Freddie Mac Multifamily issued $68 billion of securities, marking its highest annual volume on record. The GSE settled $32.6 billion in K-Deals and $28.1 billion in Multi PC® transactions, including $1.4 billion of Freddie-initiated Giant PCs, alongside smaller offerings—$2.3 billion in SB-Deals®, $2.4 billion in Q-Deals, and $1.5 billion in M-Deals and ML-Deals. The company also placed $837 million of Multifamily Structured Credit Risk notes and $848 million of Multifamily Credit Insurance Pool policies, transferring interest-rate, liquidity and credit risk to private investors. Since 2009, Freddie Mac has securitized $805 billion in multifamily paper, with over 90 percent of subsidized rental units serving low-to-moderate income households.

The proposed $200 billion expansion of Freddie Mac’s MBS holdings, combined with strong multifamily issuance, underscores the GSE’s pivotal role in market liquidity. For investors, increased agency participation may compress spreads on newly issued mortgage bonds, but it also raises questions about future profitability and risk retention. Credit risk transfer deals have grown to offset taxpayer exposure, yet any abrupt policy reversal or sharp interest-rate move could trigger mark-to-market losses across agency portfolios. Market participants are closely watching Treasury auctions and Fed communications for clues on the durability of current rate levels and the GSEs’ capacity to absorb additional balance-sheet growth.