Fannie Mae to pay federal government $10.2 billion in profits

{mosads}But that future is largely in question, as members from both parties, including the president, are beginning to take a hard look at winding down the GSEs and overhauling the nation’s housing finance system. President Obama has hammered the housing reform message for the past week, after lawmakers went home for the August recess. Both parties agree the current arrangement, in which the government ends up backing the vast majority of the nation’s mortgages, is unsustainable, and that the private sector needs to play a larger role in the housing market.

The profitable run of the enterprises in the last several quarters means the government is getting closer to turning a profit on its bailout of the two entities. All told, the federal government has pumped about $187 billion into Fannie and its fellow enterprise, Freddie Mac. Both needed to be rescue from insolvency in 2008 as they were hit hard by the housing downturn.

Fannie’s profits were reported one day after fellow GSE Freddie Mac reported it made $5 billion in the second quarter, its second-largest ever, and would pay the Treasury $4.4 billion. All told, Freddie has paid about $41 billion back to the Treasury since being rescued.