For nearly 17 years, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — two pillars of the U.S. housing finance system — have remained under federal conservatorship. The debate over how to exit this limbo has consumed housing policy circles for over a decade. Most stakeholders now agree that reform is overdue. But even the best plan to restructure these institutions will fall short if it ends there.

Fannie and Freddie matter. The government-sponsored enterprises guarantee nearly half of all new U.S. mortgages, ensuring liquidity in both good times and bad. They are also among the few institutions with a public mission to serve rural, low-income and historically underserved borrowers. Reimagining them as regulated utilities — with capped returns, cost-based pricing and clear service obligations — would bring transparency and durability to a system long overdue for a modern framework.

But structure alone won’t solve the affordability crisis gripping communities nationwide. Even perfectly governed Government-Sponsored Enterprises cannot close the gap between surging home prices and stagnating wages. Nor can they single-handedly fix the uneven access to credit or the persistent racial homeownership gap.

The median U.S. home now costs over $420,000. According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition, the nation faces a shortage of more than 7........

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