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30 FREDDIE FUNDS $28B IN MORTGAGES Freddie Mac's total mortgage portfolio increased over the year, rising at an annualized rate of 0.5 percent between April 2016 and April 2017, according to the April Monthly Volume Summary recently released by Freddie Mac. ough the jump does mark year-over- year growth for the Enterprise, April's annual increase is significantly lower than March's, which came in at 4.8 percent. December 2016 saw a 10 percent annualized growth rate. In total, Freddie Mac completed $28 billion in mortgage purchases or issuances, $4.1 billion in sales, and $23 billion in liquidations for the month of April. e balance of Freddie's mortgage portfolio by the end of the month was just over $2 trillion. e GSE has funded $127 billion in mortgages since the start of 2017. Total aggregate unpaid principal balance (UPB) of Freddie Mac's mortgage-related investments portfolio declined in April, dropping $1.5 billion to $289.7 billion year-to- date. Under its mortgage-related investments portfolio, the GSE completed $20 billion in purchases, $18 billion in sales, and $3 billion in liquidations. It saw an annualized growth rate of -6.2 percent for the month. Freddie Mac mortgage-related securities and mortgage loans made up the bulk of the portfolio, while nonagency and agency loans only comprised a small portion of it. Mortgage-related securities and mortgage- related guarantees rose by an annualized rate of 2.1 percent, jumping from $1.76 trillion to $1.88 trillion since April last year. e portfolio has risen steadily since early 2016, even jumping 10 percent in December 2016. More than 40 percent of Freddie's total single-family mortgage portfolio for April consisted of refinance loans, and 9 percent of those were "relief refinance mortgages." Just over half—56 percent—of the agency's loans were purchase loans for the month. In total, Freddie Mac completed 4,588 single-family loan modifications in April and 16,587 year-to-date. e rate of serious delinquency remained steady for both Freddie's single-family and multi-family loans in April, coming in at 0.92 percent and 0.03 percent of the Enterprise's total loan volume, respectively. On single- family loans, "seriously delinquent" refers to borrowers who are 90 or more days overdue; on multifamily loans, it is 60-plus days. TRUMP BUDGET MAY SLASH HUD FUNDING e Trump administration recently announced its proposed 2018 budget, which includes several cuts to Department of Housing and Urban Development programs, including cutting the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program, the Choice Neighborhoods Initiative, the HOME Investment Partnerships Program, and the Self-Help Homeownership Opportunity Program (SHOP). According to HUD, the CDBG Program has not been effectively targeting the poorest communities and has not demonstrated a measurable impact on communities. Other programs are to be cut because HUD states that state and local governments are better positioned to serve their communities' needs in their place. "is budget reflects this administration's commitment to fiscal responsibility, while continuing HUD's core support of our most vulnerable households," HUD Secretary Ben Carson said. "We will work very closely with Congress to support the critical work of our agency as we vigorously pursue new approaches to help work-eligible households achieve self- sufficiency." HUD's request includes $40.68 billion in gross discretionary funding for the department. In addition, the budget seeks up to $400 billion in new loan guarantee authority and makes changes to strengthen the Federal Housing Finance Agency's (FHA) Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) or reverse mortgage program. e budget includes a $30 million administrative fee to support the modernization of FHA's systems, which HUD calls "outdated." Additional cuts proposed include a $45 million cut to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. e current plan would steadily increase cuts to the bureau over several years, with more than $700 million in cuts expected by 2021. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin voiced his support of the proposed budget in a statement. "President Trump's budget focuses Treasury on our core missions of collecting revenue and managing the nation's debt, while modernizing, streamlining, and increasing efficiencies to reduce operating expenditures," Mnuchin said. "[e] president's budget will achieve savings through reforms that prevent taxpayer bailouts and reverse burdensome regulations that have been harmful to small businesses and American workers. ese initiatives, coupled with comprehensive tax reform and other key priorities, will move America one step closer to sustained economic growth of three percent or higher."

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