Instead of using powers granted by Congress to buy jumbo loans for the first time, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae are purchasing their own mortgage-backed securities, helping reduce losses, company filings show. ...

The National Association of Realtors estimated last year that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac would buy $150 billion of jumbo loans in 2008. UBS AG analysts now say the amount may be $74 billion; the companies' own projections indicate that they may not even reach that figure.

So-called jumbo mortgages are above the $417,000 limit previously set for Fannie and Freddie. The feds temporarily raised the limit for a number of markets. It's $560,000 in the Baltimore metro area.