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Publications

Fannie Mae Working Papers

In Fannie Mae's publications series, our analysts explore key trends and data, mining them for insights into market developments and potential outcomes. The authors also engage with industry partners who share their research expertise on robust, in-depth studies. The analyses and other views in these materials represent the views of the author(s) as of the date indicated and do not necessarily represent the views of Fannie Mae's Economic & Strategic Research Group, Fannie Mae or its management.


The Impact of 2019 Changes to Texas' Flood Disclosure Requirements on House Prices

February 21, 2024

This paper examines the impact of a 2019 change to Texas' real estate disclosure law that introduced requirements to disclose when a property is in a moderate risk flood zone and increased the prominence of all flood-related disclosures.
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Low Balance Lending Economics: The Role of the Spec Pay-up

December 8, 2023

Fannie Mae introduces a new methodology that estimates and decomposes lender revenue for Fannie Mae guaranteed loans and illustrates how the specified pay-up supports access to credit for underserved borrowers.
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Who Owns a Home? Householders and Homeownership

May 25, 2023

Using data from the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP), Fannie Mae jointly estimates models of headship and homeownership as a function of demographics, income, and wealth.
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An Alternative Approach to Estimating Foreclosure and Short Sale Discounts

February 13, 2023

This Fannie Mae working paper investigates whether large price discounts for foreclosures and short sales were due to omitted variables bias.
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Next to Kin: How Children Influence the Housing and Mobility Decisions of Older Adults

June 1, 2022

This Fannie Mae working paper explores the residential mobility of older adults, with a focus on the influence of distance to children on those decisions.
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Mortgage costs as a share of housing costs—placing the cost of credit in broader context

March 9, 2022

Fannie Mae’s latest working paper focuses on the different components of housing costs to show the contribution of each expense to overall housing costs, specifically focusing on a breakdown of mortgage costs.
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Appraising the Appraisal

January 20, 2022

Fannie Mae's latest research evaluates appraisal values of homes owned by Black and white borrowers refinancing their homes.
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Barriers to Entry: Closing Costs for First-Time and Low-Income Homebuyers

December 2, 2021

Fannie Mae's latest research on affordable housing solutions shows that closing costs are a meaningful obstacle to sustainable homeownership for first-time and low-income first-time homebuyers, including Black and Hispanic borrowers.
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Solar at High Noon: Solar Home Premiums in a Rapidly Maturing Market

July 2, 2021

In this Fannie Mae working paper, we explore how current premiums have changed over time, particularly in relation to changes in solar replacement costs and energy savings.
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Seeking Alpha in the Housing Market

June 15, 2021

This Fannie Mae working paper examined short term trades in the housing market over the period 2000–2013 using nationally representative data across multiple U.S. housing markets.
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Adverse Selection and Climate Risk

March 30, 2021

This Fannie Mae working paper investigated the 2019 findings of Ouazad and Kahn and found no evidence that mortgage lenders change their loan origination, approval, and securitization practices in areas affected by major hurricanes.
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Density Control, Home Price Appreciation, and Rental Growth in the United States

December 23, 2020

This Fannie Mae working paper investigates density control in the top 50 U.S. metropolitan areas using National Longitudinal Land Use Survey (NLLUS) data from 1994, 2003, and 2019.
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When Appraisers Go Low, Contracts Go Lower: The Impact of Expert Opinions on Transaction Prices

October 8, 2020

Using home purchase loan application data, this Fannie Mae working papers studies buyer responses to the uncommon occurrence of the appraised value coming in below the contract price (i.e. a low appraisal), which sharply raises the probability of downward price renegotiation.
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Flood Damage and Mortgage Credit Risk: A Case Study of Hurricane Harvey

July 21, 2020

Using a unique, loan-level database that combines post-disaster home inspection data, flood zone designations, and loan performance measures in the area impacted by Hurricane Harvey, this Fannie Mae working paper examines the link between property damage, flood insurance, and mortgage credit risk.
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Flood Risk and the U.S. Housing Market

February 1, 2019

This Fannie Mae working paper synthesizes existing research on flood risks, flood insurance, and their impacts on the U.S. housing market, focusing on the single-family market segment, as primary residences tend to be the largest category of wealth for most households.
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The Influence of Contract Prices and Relationships on Appraisal Bias

July 31, 2018

This Fannie Mae working paper introduces a new measure to analyze the mechanism and extent of appraisal bias of residential property.
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Mortgage Experiences of Rural Borrowers in the United States: Insights from the National Survey of Mortgage Originations

July 18, 2018

In this Fannie Mae working paper, we show results from the National Survey of Mortgage Originations (NSMO) survey that oversampled people who took out mortgages in completely rural counties in 2014, contrasting the characteristics, experiences, and loan terms of mortgage borrowers in completely rural counties to those of borrowers in metropolitan and other non-metropolitan areas.
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Home Equity Conversion Mortgages: The Secondary Market Investor Experience

October 20, 2017

In this Fannie Mae working paper, we analyze Fannie Mae's experience with the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage, the FHA-insured, non-recourse version of reverse mortgages, accrual notes of indeterminate maturity secured by home equity.
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Foreclosure Timelines and House Prices

July 31, 2017

A new Fannie Mae Housing Working Paper studies the effect of lengthening foreclosure timelines on local market home prices.
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How Much Do U.S. Households Know About Qualifying for a Mortgage?

May 31, 2017

A recent Fannie Mae Housing Working Paper reports on the level of consumer knowledge about qualifying for a home purchase mortgage loan.
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Credit Risk of Low Income Mortgages

May 17, 2017

A new Fannie Mae Housing Working Paper studies the relationship between underwriting standards, housing market environment, and default risk for low and moderate income homebuyers.
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Opportunities to Improve the Value of Appraisals

October 28, 2016

In two papers from Fannie Mae, we consider the issues of appraisal integrity and borrower protection.
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Rural Mortgage Lending Over the Last Decade

October 27, 2016

Data provides insights into the rural single-family conventional mortgage market, including the key differences between urban and rural borrower attributes, property attributes, and loan characteristics.
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