Mortgages

Fannie Mae increased its mortgage origination forecast as lower interest rates, driven by economic uncertainty, will lead to more refinance activity, but other factors will continue to hold back home purchases.

Life insurance companies increased their mortgage investments to levels higher than historical norms, creating more potential danger for their portfolios in the event of a real estate downturn, a Fitch Ratings report said.

The more than $44 billion in new Ginnie Mae mortgage-backed securities that came to market in June marked the strongest month for the government bond insurer in more than two years.

Treasury and HUD are close to unveiling administrative and legislative options for ending the conservatorships of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Will their findings be heavy on detail or leave a lot unanswered?

The agency had decided not to challenge a recent court ruling that its structure violates the separation of powers, but newly confirmed Director Mark Calabria now appears willing to the fight the case.

After the government-sponsored enterprise patch expires, "near prime" loans over the 43% debt-to-income ratio should be qualified mortgages if they have compensating factors, according to the Center for Responsible Lending.

Builder MDC Holdings' preliminary numbers for net new home orders registered their highest quarterly increase in years, adding to signs of growing demand for housing.

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.

Mortgages using alternative documentation like bank statements for underwriting performed stronger than expected, but uncertainty remains about their default rates in stressed environments, Fitch Ratings said.

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.

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 CFPB is giving trade groups and consumer advocates another three months to comment on its proposal to change what data is collected under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act.

The Italian bank is reportedly close to completing the sale to Cerberus Capital Management, Bank of America and Illimity Bank SpA.

The refinance share of mortgage applications climbed to the highest level since January 2018 as the average 30-year fixed interest rate continued tumbling, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

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.

Will the runoff of MSRs leave a hole in the capital of the mortgage finance industry?

As lawmakers meet this week to discuss artificial intelligence, they should work with regulators to create universal and workable definitions.

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.