OK. So the economy is better. The housing market is in full recovery, if not possibly even in a bubble again. So, what gives with over 50% of all residential mortgages being held by Fannie and Freddie? (As a reference point, that’s up from 7% in 1981). As expected (and always), it comes down to risk. Why does it matter to borrowers? According to Laurie Goodman, the director of the Housing Finance Policy Center, because a lack of private backers could “lock borrowers who need larger loans or have less than pristine credit out of lending.”