WASHINGTON, DC-After sounding clarion call after clarion call about the inefficiencies and market evils of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, at least one Republican appears to be backing off from GOP calls to privatize these institutions stat. Incoming chair of the House Finance subcommittee Rep. Randy Neugebauer (R) of Texas has told reporters that he sees a period of at least a year before such a move can be considered. Pointing to the still-weak housing markets, he argues--much as his Democratic counterparts have--that the housing markets could not withstand such a shock in their current condition.

“We are not interested in pulling the plug immediately on Fannie and Freddie,” he told the Christian Science Monitor. “We need a more measured approach that will faze them out over a period of time, given the impact on the markets.”

While multifamily borrowers and middlemen financiers can relax for at least the time being that the status quo will be maintained, it is clear that some change for the GSEs will be coming. The Treasury Department plans to present a regulatory reform plan next month. Also, evidence is mounting that the GSEs in their current incarnation are not meeting their various--and often conflicting--missions. Most recently, the Congressional Budget Office noted that the GSEs have displaced private mortgage origination activities via its federal guarantees by reducing the incentives for mortgage originators to make risky loans.