RMBS

The flight to safety as a result of the crisis in Japan sent mortgage rates tumbling in the week ending March 17.

U.S. housing starts sank to a seasonally adjusted 479,000 in February, the lowest level in 23 months, as building permits dropped to a record low, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday.

Goldman Sachs is once again entertaining bids on its subprime servicing operation, Litton Loan Servicing, Houston, and has approached a handful of bidders about making an offer, according to industry officials.

For at least his first year as head of the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), David Stevens will be barred from lobbying the federal agency that matters most to many of the trade group's members: the one he's leaving.

Mortgage application activity slipped 0.7% in the week ending March 11 as a result of lower purchase activity.

Two top Obama administration officials said Tuesday that the GSEs would not be exempted from a pending proposal to help standardize mortgages sold into the secondary market.

A new estimate by the Treasury Department shows the bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will cost taxpayers an additional $73 billion through 2021.

According to the Treasury International Capital System (TIC) January data, the total net purchases, which refer to purchases and sales and exclude paydowns on agency MBS, were $6.3 billion.

If settlement talks between the states and residential servicers break down, the nation's megabanks will face the prospect of lawsuits from up to 30 state attorneys general, according to Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I.

Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) President and CEO John A. Courson will be leaving the association effective June 1.