Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Director William J. Pulte recently took part in the Secondary & Capital Markets Conference presented by the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) in New York City.
MBA’s 2025 Chair Laura Escobar hosted Director Pulte to discuss the state of the nation’s housing market, current priorities at FHFA, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
“I think federal housing has been underrepresented,” said Pulte during the event’s General Session. “I think this room has been underrepresented historically at the federal level. There really wasn’t a federal housing guy for new home construction or for what is the lifeblood of new home construction, which are mortgages.”
A graduate of Northwestern University, Pulte was sworn in this past March as the fifth Director of the FHFA overseeing Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Federal Home Loan Banks, following his nomination by U.S. President Donald J. Trump in mid-January and bipartisan confirmation by the U.S. Senate. Prior to his appointment, Pulte enjoyed a career in homebuilding, housing products, and community development. In 2011, he founded Pulte Capital Partners LLC, an investment firm that focuses on building and housing products. He also served on the board of Pulte Homes, a Fortune 500 company and one of the largest homebuilders in the country.
Beyond business, Pulte is recognized for his philanthropy. Pulte founded the Blight Authority, a nonprofit organization dedicated to removing urban blight. Pulte also started Twitter philanthropy, giving hundreds of thousands of dollars to numerous causes directly on Twitter (now X), and engaging millions of followers in the process.
One of the topics Escobar brought up was the usage of “U.S. Federal Housing” as a new moniker for the agency instead of “FHFA.”
“It’s literally saying what the name is … it’s just federal housing. And at some point, you’ll probably see us drop the FHFA off,” Pulte said during the General Session. “It’s just a matter of educating people.”
The FHFA was established by the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 (HERA) to supervise, regulate, and oversee Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Federal Home Loan Bank System, which includes the 11 Federal Home Loan Banks (FHLBanks) and the Office of Finance (OF). The FHFA’s mission is to ensure that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the GSEs) and the FHLBanks execute their mission by operating in a safe and sound manner and serving as a reliable source of liquidity and funding for housing finance and community investment.
On September 6, 2008, with consent of both Fannie Mae’s and Freddie Mac’s Boards of Directors, the Director of the FHFA exercised statutory authority to place each GSE into conservatorship. This established the two conservatorships in response to a deterioration in the housing markets that severely damaged the financial condition of each, and left both of them unable to fulfill their missions without government intervention.
On the subject of the GSEs exiting conservatorship, Pulte discussed how each entity could operate more efficiently, and recent layoffs and reductions in workforce (RIFs) show that Pulte is well on his way of doing exactly that.
“How do we get this from being a bloated enterprise, and get it on the treadmill, get it running efficiently,” Pulte said of streamlining operations at both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. “Because an efficient, well-run Fannie and Freddie is a safe and sound mortgage market.”
After a number of leadership changes at the executive levels of both Fannie and Freddie, Pulte recently took to the social media platform X to state that he will pump the brakes on changes atop both GSEs.
“To stay competitive in any business, change is good, but as of today, we do not see more executive changes (other than preannounced or already agreed upon departures) because we will now focus on growth, eliminating fraud, safety and soundness, and making homes affordable again!” said Pulte recently via X. “We do not foresee any more executive leadership changes at Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac. Our focus will now turn to growth, making homes more affordable, rooting out mortgage fraud & providing great career opportunity to those who make Fannie & Freddie great American Icons, again!”
In terms of communication, Pulte has taken to social media outlets in order to make and break announcements of late, simplifying the older standard means of communication via agency press releases and official statements.
“What we’re doing is what we’re doing, and if we do it, we’ll share it,” Pulte said during the Session. “As long as it’s not jeopardizing safety and soundness.”
Click here for more on FHFA Director Pulte’s discussion with MBA Chair Laura Escobar.
