Freddie Mac's losses narrowed to $6.3 billion in the third quarter, but the government-controlled mortgage finance company didn't need a federal cash infusion. The McLean, Va.-based company has received about $51 billion since it was seized by federal regulators in September 2008, but said it didn't need any more money for the second-straight quarter.

"We continued to see some positive housing market developments, including higher volumes of home sales and modest increases in house prices in certain areas of the country," the company's new chief executive, Charles Haldeman, said in a statement Friday.