Economy

While mortgage rate optimism kept consumer confidence about the home purchase market high in June, affordability worries pulled overall sentiment lower, a Fannie Mae survey said.

The post-crisis operational improvements at both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have resulted in stronger mortgage loan performance, a Fitch Ratings report said.

Mortgage lenders might be feeling a little less stressed over False Claims Act actions being brought against them following recent headlines but there is still some work to be done before they can chill out.

Former Freddie Mac CEO Donald Layton has joined the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies as a senior industry fellow focused on reform of the government-sponsored enterprises.

Despite rising delinquency levels, borrower performance on the underlying mortgages in GSE credit-risk transfer securitizations is strong enough to warrant ratings upgrades to more than half of nearly 1,200 outstanding note classes.

In a downturn, some fintechs, such as independent lenders, will be more vulnerable to economic forces than those working to service banks' regulatory needs.

The legislation, which passed a key test in the state Senate on Wednesday, is the product of a compromise between consumer advocates and some lenders.

There is bipartisan agreement in the Senate that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are "too big to fail," but some lawmakers are skeptical that a SIFI designation is appropriate.

Because automated valuation models have not been subjected to a stressed housing market, their increased use holds negatives and positives for residential mortgage-backed securities credit quality, a Moody's report said.

Although the performance of the government-sponsored enterprises' single-family loans continues to improve, the deeply delinquent totals remain significant in states with court-processed foreclosures.