RMBS

Pending home sales surged 7.3% to a reading of 100.1 in November, its highest level in 19 months, from an unrevised 10.4% increase to 93.3 in October, according to a report released Thursday by the National Association of Realtors.

Average weekly fixed rates for mortgages inched up a bit but still are ending the year near their all-time historic lows, according to Freddie Mac.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency has directed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to implement a congressionally mandated increase in their loan guarantee fees on April 1.

KeyBanc Capital Markets (KBCM) recently hired Christopher Moroz and Michael Giasi to its fixed-income team as part of its efforts to further expand the firm's MBS capabilities, as reported on Dec 19 by StructuredFinanceNews.com (see link).

Zillow is projecting that home values across the country are expected to have gone down approximately $700 billion in 2011, which would be 35% less than the $1.1 trillion that was lost in 2010.

Standard & Poor's late Tuesday said it is reviewing its rating criteria for U.S. RMBS backed primarily by second liens.

The serious delinquency rate on Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans has risen a full percentage point over four months to 9.3% in November.

Investors involved in the $8.5 billion bond settlement with Bank of America Corp. are looking for the case to be moved back to state court, according to a Bloomberg report.

Carrington Holding Co. is trying to raise $1 billion from investors to purchase foreclosed single-family properties that its mortgage services unit will manage and rent.

The Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago has received the go-ahead from its regulator to begin repurchasing stock from its member banks.