In a bid to cool runaway home prices, President Trump instructed Freddie Mac to purchase an additional $200 billion in agency mortgage-backed securities over the next six months. The directive, issued on January 9, 2026, represents a 25 percent increase over Freddie Mac’s existing MBS portfolio and is intended to inject liquidity into the secondary market. Analysts warn the move may complicate the government-sponsored enterprise’s path to privatization, as it deepens the federal footprint in Freddie Mac’s balance sheet and raises questions about when—and if—the company can complete an initial public offering without taxpayer risk.

On January 8, 2026, Freddie Mac released its Primary Mortgage Market Survey showing the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.16 percent, just above last week’s 6.15 percent and down from 6.93 percent a year ago. The 15-year fixed rate held at 5.46 percent, compared with 5.44 percent last week and 6.14 percent a year earlier. Chief Economist Sam Khater noted that purchase applications climbed more than 20 percent year-over-year, driven by solid economic growth and relatively stable borrowing costs, signaling improving momentum in homebuying despite affordability pressures.

In 2025, Freddie Mac’s Multifamily division issued $68 billion of mortgage-backed and structured credit products, transferring rate, liquidity and credit risks to private investors. Highlights included a record $32.6 billion in K-Deals and $28.1 billion in Multi-PC offerings, along with $837 million of Multifamily Structured Credit Risk notes and $848 million of Multifamily Credit Insurance Pool policies. Since launching its risk-transfer program in 2009, Freddie Mac has settled $805 billion in multifamily securities, with over 90 percent of funded rental units affordable to low- and moderate-income families.