Mortgages

The administration’s reported interest in having the White House aide run Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's regulator signals a focus on constraining the mortgage giants’ role in the housing market.

New Penn Financial will change its name to NewRez at the start of 2019, reflecting its acquisition earlier this year by New Residential Investment Corp.

A joint venture between the REIT and two Chinese investors obtained a $364 million five-year, fixed-rate loan on the portfolio from Column Financial.

The gap between supply and demand in the housing market is contributing to affordability constraints that are likely to limit homeownership long-term, according to Freddie Mac.

As home value appreciation slowed, gains in home equity for the third quarter fell to the lowest level in two years, according to CoreLogic's homeowner equity report.

The government-sponsored enterprises sold fewer nonperforming loans in the first half, but the drop-off in the number of sales year-to-year is less severe than it was in 2017 as a whole.

Consolidation is coming in the mortgage industry, but a protracted timetable will continue to constrict industry profits.

The Democrat, who will likely head the Financial Services Committee, has signaled she'll make expanded housing opportunities for lower-income consumers a top priority.

CleanFund has created a division that helps structure Property Assessed Clean Energy financing to meet a mortgage lender's credit criteria; its also talking to lenders about co-financing the energy upgrades.

Social Finance, the lending and refinancing startup valued at more than $4 billion, is cutting about 7% of its staff, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Lawmakers have had to extend the program eight times since October 2017, as Congress has been unable to pass broader reforms.

Volatility in the stock market caused the growth in the top 5% of average home sale prices to slow more than the rest of the market, according to Redfin.

The Federal Housing Administration's risk-sharing program with the Federal Financing Bank began as a temporary fix, but the agency is exploring how to make it more permanent.

The sustained rise in home values will boost Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's loan limits for 2019, marking the second consecutive year in which it increased by nearly 7%.

The proposal by Fannie and Freddie’s regulator to impose bank-like capital requirements would be relevant only if the companies leave conservatorship. But that hasn’t stopped lenders from requesting changes.

The effort to raise the threshold for transactions excused from appraisal requirements responds to concerns that the current threshold is outpaced by real estate prices.

Subprime originations are climbing in multiple consumer loan categories, including mortgages, but the increase is much smaller in the home loan sector than it is in other markets, according to TransUnion.

Bank jumbo mortgage underwriting standards weakened in the third quarter by the most in three years and as profitability remains under pressure, loosening should continue at an accelerated pace, a Moody's report said.

The Trump administration should consider putting much of the subsidized mortgage lending done by the federal government under the government-sponsored enterprises to improve efficiency and transparency.

Ginnie Mae officials are concerned about unusual activity with Department of Veterans Affairs cash-out refinances and are investigating the causes, as well as whether predatory lenders are taking advantage of veterans.