Finance

The coming week could be an important milestone in the march toward GSE reform as the White House comes under pressure to reveal its approach to winding down Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

The average rate for a 30-year fixed loan climbed to 3.93% earlier this week from 3.35% last month and the record low 3.31% reached in November.

Freddie Mac plans to eliminate a $7,500 annual low-activity fee that has met with a backlash among rural banks that sell a small number of loans each year to the government-sponsored enterprise.

Pacific Investment Management Co. sees value in European commercial mortgage-backed securities on signs of a lending recovery

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara today announced the unsealing of a felony complaint against Seth Beoku-Betts, founder of Betts & Gambles LLC, for defrauding a Midwestern state university in 2008.

The rebranding reflects Archetype's former parent LNR's acquisition.

Report issued in reaction to Ben Bernanke's comments on Wednesday about ending easing.

Borrower told at a seminar there are non-government low downpayment loans available.

Interactive Mortgage Advisors as exclusive broker for an unnamed seller is offering $2.1 billion in Freddie Mac/Fannie Mae bulk residential mortgage servicing rights.

The American Securitization Forum protested a North Las Vegas vote to move forward with an advisory agreement to further evaluate the use of eminent domain to seize underwater mortgages.

Home Loan Servicing Solutions Ltd. is commencing an underwritten public offering of 12.5 million of its ordinary shares.

Shellpoint’s long-awaited first jumbo residential mortgage-backed securities deal is in the pipeline, and it is backed by a $261.58 million loan pool with slightly broader group of borrowers than other deals.

Yields on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgage bonds that guide U.S. home loan rates rose to the highest in more than 14 months as the Federal Reserve said risks to the economy have decreased.

Amid speculation over who will succeed Ben Bernanke as Federal Reserve chairman, there are no signs that President Barack Obama has begun a formal search.

Various proposals to restructure the housing finance system call for the creation of a “Market Access Fund” that will replace Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in funding affordable housing initiatives and research.

Affiliated Mortgage Co., a Monroe, La.-based subsidiary of Texas’ Benchmark Bank, has started a wholesale/mini-correspondent division that is getting started in the Lone Star State with a plan to expand from there.

Investors still want to buy in the commercial mortgage-backed securities sector while performance is relatively good, but they are mindful that recent origination standards are slipping and there are risks in CMBS 1.0 too.

Recent gains in home prices are unsustainable, but “it’s premature to describe the market as being in a bubble” as home values remain below their pre-recession peaks and prices are expected to continue to rise this year, said Standard & Poor’s.

There is $2.41 trillion in outstanding commercial and multifamily real estate at the end of 1Q13, a decline of $4.9 billion from 4Q12, according to data compiled by the Mortgage Bankers Association.

There have been five days of triple digit moves in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Monday's market improvement included 13 Mortgage Industry Equity Composite Stocks.