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The National Association of REALTORS® on Thursday applauded the Senate’s confirmation of Bill Pulte as the next director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency. The agency oversees the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae), the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. (Freddie Mac) and the Federal Home Loan Bank System. Together, Fannie and Freddie make up the Government Sponsored Enterprises (GSEs).
What’s at stake for NAR members is both the safety and soundness of the housing finance system and the availability of affordable mortgages for buyers. Also critical is the restoration of balanced markets, since homes for sale in many areas of the country have been in short supply for more than a decade, says NAR Executive Vice President and Chief Advocacy Officer Shannon McGahn.
McGahn issued this statement following Pulte’s confirmation:
"On behalf of the National Association of REALTORS®, I want to extend our sincere congratulations to Bill Pulte on his confirmation as Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency. His leadership comes at a pivotal time as we face historic housing challenges, including affordability concerns and a nationwide housing shortage.
"FHFA oversees a housing finance system that is uniquely American, but whose reform is long delayed. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, collectively the 'GSEs', are the backbone for middle-class homeownership and rentership. It is of the utmost importance that we take a measured and thoughtful approach to any GSE reforms.
"We are confident that Director Pulte's experience and commitment will help strengthen the housing finance system and support sustainable homeownership for all Americans. We look forward to working with him to ensure a stable, accessible, and thriving housing market for generations to come."
Pulte’s Background in Advancing Housing, Communities
Pulte has expressed a commitment to increasing housing supply and leveraging innovation in housing finance, NAR said in a Feb. 6 letter supporting his nomination. As a former director of PulteGroup, the nation’s third-largest homebuilder, Pulte has seen the challenges that builders face in the construction of new homes and buyers face when seeking financing, NAR said in its letter to Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), chair of the Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), ranking member of the committee.
“In a recent media interview, Mr. Pulte ... acknowledged that work needs to be done at the local level to reduce costs and other impediments to make more homes available for purchase,” NAR said in its letter supporting Pulte’s nomination. “He also noted that the strength of the U.S. housing market is the current mortgage system. NAR looks forward to working with [him] on these initiatives and others to fix some of the most pressing issues in housing and mortgage finance.”
Pulte is the founder of Pulte Capital Partners, an investment firm focused on building product businesses. He’s also the founder of the Bill Pulte Foundation (separate from the Pulte Family Charitable Foundation) and the grandson of the late William “Bill” Pulte, founder of PulteGroup. In 2013, Pulte and his grandfather founded the Detroit Blight Authority to help clean up areas of the city where PulteGroup started in 1950.
Determining the Future of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
It’s anticipated that a key area of focus for FHFA under the Trump administration will be to bring the GSEs out of their nearly 17-year conservatorship. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac keep mortgage money flowing by packaging and securitizing mortgages for sale to investors. During the 2008 financial crisis, a precipitous decline in housing markets left the GSEs unable to fulfill that mission without government intervention. Congress established the FHFA as part of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008, and in September of that year, the agency became conservator of the GSEs.
The future of the GSEs is critical to NAR members, whose clients rely on the availability of mortgage money to purchase homes. At his confirmation hearing on Feb. 27, Pulte said the eventual pull from conservatorship must be “carefully planned.”
NAR agrees. “A liquid financing market for mortgages—particularly the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage—must remain to build upon the foundations laid by previous FHFA directors,” McGahn says. “If now is indeed the time for reform of the GSEs, maintaining a federal backstop for mortgage-backed securities is vital. And while the conservatorships have dragged past 16 years, there is great risk in rushing into any immediate solutions.
“We look forward to working with Mr. Pulte to find answers that will serve the housing market now and into the future,” McGahn says.
