Congressional Republicans have long been calling for the federal government to reduce its involvement in the U.S. housing market.

KeyBanc Capital Markets has hired Steve Rielly from UBS to oversee loan trading, ASR sister publication Leveraged Finance News has confirmed.

Mortgage rates declined in the week ending Dec. 15, according to Freddie Mac's weekly survey. 30-year rates fell five basis points to 3.94% with an average 0.8 point, matching its all time low set in the week ending Oct. 6.

The credit performance of private student loan ABS will stay weak in 2012 given the current different macroeconomic factors, Moody's Investor's Service stated in a report released today.

A House Financial Services subcommittee has approved a bill that would establish a foundation for a new private-label securitization market for mortgages.

Foreclosure filings involving default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions were down 3% in November across the country from the previous month, according to RealtyTrac's latest foreclosure report.

DDR Corp. has appointed Luke Petherbridge senior vice president of capital markets.

Neil Barofsky, the former special inspector general for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), this week hammered the Obama Administration and Treasury Department at a panel discussion on the foreclosure crisis, saying fears of a political backlash led to the administration's tepid response to the housing crisis and refusal to back principal reductions.

In a report released this morning, Standard & Poor's analysts said covered bond issuance in 2012 should benefit from a bias for secured funding.

Realogy Corp. has amended and extended the existing Apple Ridge Funding securitization program issued by its services operating unit Cartus Corp.

The main drivers of markets in 2012 are likely to be similar to past year’s themes — uncertainty over the fate of the Euro, and the related question of whether or not there will be a global recession, said Alex Brown, group CIO of Schroders.

PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust, through an affiliate, has increased an existing repurchase agreement with Credit Suisse First Boston Mortgage Capital.