Government-sponsored mortgage investor Freddie Mac posted a 14% yearly decline in net income in the fourth quarter on a 9% decline in net revenues, according to year-end earnings reported on Thursday.
Fourth-quarter net income of $2.8 billion was flat from the third quarter and down from $3.2 billion a year ago. Net revenues of $5.8 billion were up slightly from $5.7 billion in the third quarter but down from $6.3 billion a year ago.
On a full-year basis, Freddie’s comprehensive net income was $10.8 billion, down about 8.8% from approximately $11.8 billion in 2024. The company’s net worth climbed to around $70.3 billion as of the end of the fourth quarter, up about 18% from 2024.
Jim Whitlinger, chief financial officer at Freddie Mac, said the drop in fourth-quarter net income was “primarily due to lower net revenues,” while underscoring a surge in year-end refinance activity that boosted overall mortgage volumes.
The approximately $118 billion of new single-family business in the fourth quarter “accounted for 35% of total volumes, the highest quarterly refinance share we have seen in the past three years,” said Whitlinger. New mortgage acquisitions rose 12% on a yearly basis in 2025 as both refinance and purchase volumes strengthened, he added.
By comparison, the roughly $96.8 billion of new fourth-quarter single-family acquisitions for Fannie Mae, the fellow government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) that also reported declining earnings this week, was about 38% refinances.
As evidenced by that quarterly gap in new mortgage acquisitions, Whitlinger further underscored the leading role his company played in the agency single-family market in 2025, claiming 54% of total GSE market share.
Bill Pulte, director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which has regulated Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae since the two firms landed in federal conservatorship in 2008, applauded the performance in a press release.
“Our investments in technology have streamlined the origination process, reduced unnecessary friction, and enabled our lenders to do business with us more cost-effectively,” said Pulte, who has also chaired Freddie Mac’s board of directors since putting himself in that role last March.
Freddie’s net revenues declined 3% over the course of 2025 to $23.3 billion, attributable to lower non-interest income, the company said, “partially offset by higher net interest income.” Net interest income for full-year 2025, meanwhile, was $21.4 billion, up 8% year over year.
Freddie Mac grew its single-family mortgage portfolio by 2% over the year to exceed $3.15 trillion, while expanding its multifamily portfolio by 6% to around $496 billion.
