Crypto Comes to The Mortgage Market & Existing Home Sales at GFC Levels

Crypto Comes to The Mortgage Market & Existing Home Sales at GFC Levels

Quick Hit

In an unanticipated announcement, FHFA has directed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to consider cryptocurrency as an asset in its underwriting criteria. The move could provide a tailwind to the housing market and unlock potential homebuyer demand, particularly among younger first-time homebuyers. If you haven't taken the time to understand crypto, now might be the signal to do some due diligence.

Key Points & Stats

1. FHFA directed housing giants to consider cryptocurrency as an asset for mortgage loan risk assessment in their underwriting criteria.
    
2. Crypto holders will no longer have to sell their digital assets to convert them to dollars for them to be considered as reserves in qualifications.
    
3. According to the National Cryptocurrency Association, an estimated 21% of adults, or 55 million Americans, hold crypto.
    
4. Crypto holders are diverse in general, crossing many regional and socioeconomic boundaries. However, they do tend to skew toward the younger generation, which draws a direct path forward for increased potential demand among the first-time homebuyer cohort.
    
5. Since November 2022 we have continued to see home sales figures that place us in the top 5 or lower prints for any given month since the Great Financial Crisis going back to 2000. In the latest non-seasonally adjusted reading for May 2025, existing home sales came in at the 3rd lowest sales volume level since 2000 for the month of May.
    
6. The recent post-pandemic performance from 2023 to 2025, relative to the monthly historic average and on a yearly average basis is down roughly 22%, below that of the GFC. Relative to the high, that number falls to -42%.