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The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) was created during the Great Depression as part of the New Deal to assist in the construction, acquisition, and rehabilitation of residential properties. The FHA created and insured the fixed-rate mortgage to replace balloon payment mortgages and to help standardize the overall market.
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The Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) was created to provide a liquid secondary mortgage market. Mortgage originators could sell newly minted mortgages to Fannie Mae and use the proceeds to underwrite additional mortgages, namely FHA-insured mortgages.
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Fannie Mae was split, creating the current iteration of Fannie Mae, tasked with purchasing private mortgages, and the Government National Mortgage Association (Ginnie Mae), focused on supporting FHA-insured mortgages, Veterans Administration and Farmers Home Administration-insured mortgages.
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The Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac) was created in 1970 to expand the secondary mortgage market and create competition for Fannie Mae.