Treasury may use Fannie, Freddie to help home prices

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Treasury Department is considering a plan to halt sliding home prices by lowering mortgage rates through home-finance powerhouses Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.

Citing unnamed people familiar with the matter, the Journal said in an online report that the still-developing plan would aim to bring mortgage rates down to as low as 4.5 percent -- roughly one percentage point lower than their current level.

Under the plan, Treasury would buy securities underpinning loans guaranteed by the mortgage finance enterprises, and those guaranteed by the Federal Housing Administration, an arm of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the report said.

(Editing by James Dalgleish)