FINANCIAL TIMES: Investors will be able to bid for nearly 2,500 repossessed US properties owned by government-controlled mortgage giant Fannie Mae in a pilot programme tailored by the Obama administration to avoid further depressing the housing market.
The housing financier is seeking through the initiative, detailed Monday by the Federal Housing Finance Agency, Fannie Mae’s regulator, to sell a portion of the roughly 120,000 foreclosed properties it holds on its books to investors. Buyers must agree to rent out the properties rather than immediately selling them on the open market.
By delaying the open market sale of distressed homes, officials hope housing prices will rebound more quickly… (more)
