Freddie Mac To Sell $1 Billion Commercial Mortgage Bonds - Source

Freddie Mac (FRE) is expected to sell nearly $1 billion of commercial mortgage bonds backed by multifamily loans on Tuesday, according to a source.

This would be the first time that a commercial mortgage bond is sold with the backing of a government-sponsored enterprise. It also would be the first commercial mortgage bond deal in nearly a year.

The deal, led by Deutsche Bank, will offer new ways for Freddie to raise liquidity and support the troubled multifamily market.

So far, both Freddie and Fannie Mae (FNM), have held multifamily loans that they purchase on their books without securitizing them. This move is expected to free up Freddie's capital, so that it can invest more in multifamily loans.

This comes at a time when Fannie also has started packaging residential loans it holds in its portfolio into securities. Fannie, however, hasn't sold them to investors yet.

Freddie, on the other hand, has sold these multifamily loans that were held in its investment portfolio to a Deutsche Bank Trust, which will package and sell these bonds.

Market participants say this is a positive sign to the market, and raises the prospect of more such deals from the GSEs.

-By Prabha Natarajan, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-5071; [e-mail]