Mortgages

Not so long after Treasury bond yields experienced an unprecedented drop, the average 30-year mortgage rate rose, reflecting volatility related to the coronavirus as well as capacity issues on multiple levels.

The North Carolina company will hold onto the loans after the Fed's decision to slash interest rates.

The falling rates continue a three-year trend of improving performance across numerous commercial mortgage sectors including multifamily, office and retail.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac coming out of conservatorship and transitioning into public utilities would be the ideal for small mortgage lenders, according to trade-organization representative Robert Zimmer.

Mortgage companies that borrow heavily to keep their operations running may face financial pressure from coronavirus-related market volatility as it affects the valuations of collateral securing their financing.

Mortgage lenders could benefit from the surge in refinancing due to widening market spreads, and that could help offset damage to servicing rights portfolio valuations, according to Keefe, Bruyette & Woods.

Fannie Mae completed its first two Credit Insurance Risk Transfer transactions of 2020, shifting $1 billion of single-family loan credit risk to insurers and reinsurers.

Any impact from the coronavirus outbreak on commercial and multifamily loan delinquencies won't be known for some time, the Mortgage Bankers Association said.

Most of the pool is made up of office-property loans, but also includes a sizeable exposure to hotel and retail properties.

The cancellation by New Residential of a money-losing subservicing agreement should benefit Ocwen's financial results going forward, the company said.

The agency's director said both steps will come as part of an ongoing review of agency rules and show her "commitment under the law to be effective and evidence based” in providing clarity to stakeholders.

Black Knight introduced a model to gauge prepayment speeds and credit risk for investors that purchase commercial mortgage-backed securities.

Dana Wade would succeed Brian Montgomery, the acting deputy secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

SoFi Professional Loan Program 2020-B Trust is a $1.06 billion asset-backed offering of bonds secured by a pool of loans made to advanced-degree graduates of medical, dental or legal universities, or MBA recipients.

A dip in conventional mortgage refinance demand drove mortgage application volume down compared with one week earlier, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

For the first time since the start of the housing crisis, mortgage origination volume could top $2 trillion for three consecutive years, according to Fannie Mae.

Freddie Mac saw a decline in net profit in 2019 due to decreased interest rate income, lower amortization revenue and risk-reducing investment costs, but its consecutive-quarter results improved.

Fannie Mae identified the adoption of hedge accounting and regular issuance of multifamily Connecticut Avenue Securities deals as among strategies it could continue to pursue while navigating regulatory uncertainties and change.

The unsuccessful scheme has become the focus of a legal battle involving two former Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco employees against that government-sponsored enterprise, which fired them in 2018.

The biggest issuers of bonds tied to the benchmark tapped to replace U.S. dollar Libor are suddenly pulling back, a potential blow to efforts by regulators to wean the financial system off a much-maligned reference rate.