Freddie Mac delighted investors and analysts by posting a narrower loss for the past year's fourth-quarter, and the mortgage financier also reported that its credit-loss provisions managed to hold steady from a year ago, and even dropped during the third-quarter.

Chief Executive Charles E. Haldeman Jr. shared that the ongoing year was started by the company with some early signs of stabilization in the housing market, with prices of residential properties and homes sales likely nearing the bottom sometime over the year.

And while he did say that Freddie is expecting low mortgage rates and demand will be fueled by homebuyer tax credits, he did warn that the recovery might remain fragile, with some substantial risks posed by high unemployment and a potential large, fresh wave of foreclosures.

In the past year's fourth-quarter, the firm reported a loss of $6.47 Billion, compared with a year-earlier loss of $23.85 Billion.