RMBS

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

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.

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.

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.

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

Ranieri Real Estate Partners (RREP), New York, has established two new advisory services groups and as part of the initiative signed a definitive agreement to acquire boutique investment banking and advisory firm, Occom Capital Partners, which has offices in New York and Portland, Maine.

Lawmakers raised sharp questions Tuesday about the ties between the 14 largest mortgage servicers and the purportedly independent consultants that were hired to review their practices, putting a top bank regulatory official on the defensive.