Finance

Freddie Mac shares rose to $4.14 at 12:30 p.m. in New York Friday, Fannie Mae's stock climbed to about $4.23, each up 22% from the previous day's close.

BRIDGE Housing Corp. is the first to publicly offer tax-exempt bonds to finance construction of a new development, a 224-unit project in Portland, Oregon.

The changes add some steps that would have to be taken before Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could exit following statements from a Trump ally indicating plans for a near-term release.

The Stamford, Connecticut-based bank hired Steven Sugarman to be its president. The former bank CEO, who now heads one of the country's largest mission-based lenders, will help drive an effort to close a capital gap.

The CapitalW Collective supplements the work other organizations do by addressing the educational needs of women and others in the specialized portions of the mortgage business.

A vast majority of the collateral pool balance, 82.6%, are mortgages used to purchase primary residences, and just 17.4% finance second homes.

Improved digital communications in transfers could help mitigate one growing risk for servicers, which also could face a less friendly rate and credit scenario.

Technology centered on addressing certain key mortgage priorities stand to attract the greatest attention from venture capitalists and other investors.

Lenders will need to lean on alternative products as limited mortgage rate relief keeps some consumers on the sidelines, but others will tire of waiting and act.

Alternative documentation accounts for 37.9% of the pool balance, compared with 24.6% on the 2024-NQM4 deal.

Companies' new uses for AI, regulators' responses to past cyber incidents and wider acceptance of digital collateral were among the year's top developments.

The scorecard the Federal Housing Finance Agency draws up yearly applies to two influential loan buyers and an entity overseeing the fungibility of their bonds.

Sales of bonds earmarked for supplemental coverage of large windstorms, earthquakes and other events totaled $17.7 billion, up 7% from the previous record set a year ago.

Releasing the GSEs from government conservatorship is on the agenda for the incoming Trump administration. Doing so could threaten the 30-year fixed rate mortgage.

The residential market is expected to face challenges from stubbornly high mortgage rates and limited supply in 2025, particularly after Fed Chair Jerome Powell's comments on Wednesday indicating fewer rate cuts are coming.

The senior vice president who played a key role in instituting an industry scorecard passes on some insights with future relevance as she prepares to depart.

Habib, an often-accurate and frank forecaster bridging Main Street and Wall Street, explains why he found recent times to be challenging, but he's hopeful.

A Congressional Budget Office report updating one from four years ago finds 60% of its 250 scenarios will result in the Treasury getting fully repaid, up from 12%.

Monetary policy officials greenlighted a 25 basis-point federal funds cut but mixed economic signals dimmed hopes for more affordable home financing costs.

Releasing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from conservatorship without legislation is very high risk for the shareholders, writes the chairman of Whalen Global Advisors.