Who is Freddie Mac and what do they do?

Freddie Mac, short for the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, is a government-backed organization that helps keep home loans available and affordable for people across the U.S. Essentially, Freddie Mac buys mortgages from banks and other lenders, giving these lenders more money to make additional loans. This process helps make sure that there’s always funding available for people who want to buy homes.

After Freddie Mac buys these loans, it bundles them together and sells them as mortgage-backed securities to investors. By doing this, Freddie Mac transfers some of the loan risk to investors while keeping more money flowing into the housing market. This keeps mortgage rates more stable and affordable, even during tough economic times.

Freddie Mac’s main goal is to make homeownership and renting more accessible, especially for low- and middle-income families. It helps make long-term, fixed-rate loans (like the popular 30-year mortgage) widely available so more people have a chance to own a home.