Homebuyers clearly continued to take advantage of low interest rates, as Q4 numbers from Freddie Mac show income of $2.9 billion. According to Inside Mortgage Finance, that brought annual profits to $7.3 billion—up 2% year over year—with the company’s net worth rising to $16.4 billion by the end of 2020.
“In 2020, Freddie Mac continued to serve the important role for which it was founded: supporting the housing market in all economic conditions,” Freddie Mac’s chief financial officer, Chris Lown, said during a recent earnings call. “In the face of extraordinary economic uncertainty caused by COVID-19, we provided record liquidity, enabling millions of borrowers to purchase or refinance homes at historically low interest rates.”
Quarterly profits were up $450 million sequentially, driven primarily by a release from loss reserves, which Freddie attributed to home price growth in the fourth quarter.