Finance

Liquidity, products and pricing are the main concerns for the secondary mortgage market in 2019.

When it comes to reversing their crisis-era bond buying, central bankers are focused on the destination. Traders in risk assets care more about what could be a painful journey.

The industry could see a boost in mortgage lending from regulatory changes, but other factors may slow growth.

Top U.S. financial regulators assured Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin during a hastily organized call they are seeing nothing out of the ordinary in markets.

Mortgage servicing assets are poised for gains in 2019. But as higher average mortgage rates spur lenders to sell servicing rights and diversify their loan offerings, servicers' work will also get more complicated and costly.

There is no banking crisis, but the president’s actions are threatening to create one.

CoreLogic is exiting its loan origination software and default management operations over the next 24 months and instead accelerated plans to transform its appraisal management company unit.

The Property Assessed Clean Energy sector is getting a boost from the expansion of improvements eligible to be financed via tax assessments, including fire resiliency and total building renovations, according to DBRS.

Ordinarily, declining property sales will cool the costs for housing. But existing-home sales have been underperforming their potential for 40 straight months and property values are still on the rise, according to First American Financial Corp.

Sentiment among homebuilders fell in December to the lowest level since 2015, missing all forecasts and signaling that the industry's struggles are intensifying amid elevated prices and higher borrowing costs.

Next year is unlikely to offer relief from higher rates or housing supply shortages, according to the consensus forecast from 24 of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association's member firms.

Both the $646M UBS 2018-C15 and the $796M MSC 2018-H4 deals have relatively low leverage, helped by the inclusion of loans with investment grade characteristics.

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.

Investors in agency mortgage-backed securities will find next year to be "anything but smooth sailing" as Federal Reserve rate hikes and balance sheet reduction will lead to an increase in real rates and volatility while pushing spreads wider, Bank of America said.

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.

Toll Brothers Inc. reported its first drop in orders since 2014, led by a big falloff in California demand, a sign that high-end property markets are cooling. Shares slumped.

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.

Private-label residential mortgage-backed securitization is approaching a post-crisis high, according to Kroll Bond Rating Agency.

A National Fair Housing Alliance-led group plans to amend and refile a recently dismissed complaint against Deutsche Bank, Ocwen Financial Corp. and Altisource Portfolio Solutions alleging racial discrimination in property preservation.

If the predictions prove correct, the benchmark rate would reach 3.50% by the end of next year.