Economy

Commercial and multifamily mortgage debt outstanding grew $44.3 billion during the first three months of 2018, the largest first-quarter gain since before the Great Recession, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Commercial real estate is their bread and butter, but many banks are scaling back in this vital loan category. Here’s why.

Nelnet’s planned bank would be an online enterprise focused on gathering deposits and making private student loans.

Ginnie Mae is looking to start a pilot program to securitize digital mortgages as early as 2019, but issuers would not be able to commingle loans using traditional paper files in those deals.

The groups applauded a proposal to establish minimum GSE capital requirements, but called for more immediate steps to release the companies from conservatorship.

Risk management and technology systems at the Federal Housing Administration lag decades behind Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and desperately need to be revamped, according to a top official at HUD.

The Dallas auto lender might lose as much as one-third of its business if it severs ties with the automaker, raising fresh questions about whether its parent company will buy out shareholders and take full ownership.

Since its inception, the qualified mortgage rule has been synonymous with loans purchased by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac or guaranteed by government agencies. But a broader QM definition could change that by creating more competitive private-label options.

Anticipated changes to the qualified mortgage rule will give lenders more options and force them to rethink their views on risk.

Dark clouds may not yet be on the horizon, but industry executives are sending the message to investors that they know a turn in the credit cycle is coming, and they are planning accordingly.