US mortgage giant Freddie Mac posted net income of $2.9 billion for the July-September quarter and requested no additional federal aid.
It was Freddie's second profitable quarter in a row and compared with a loss of $6 billion for the same quarter in 2011.
The government-controlled company attributed the gain to an increase in home prices and a decline in mortgage delinquencies.
Both are signs of a modest housing recovery in the US.
The US government rescued Freddie and larger sibling Fannie Mae during the 2008 financial crisis after they incurred massive losses on risky mortgages. Taxpayers have spent about $170 billion to rescue them, the costliest bailout of the 2008 financial crisis.
