Finance

Loan limits on Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, FHA and VA loans should be gradually reduced to encourage the private sector to play a larger role in the housing finance system.

Connecticut's Capital Region Development Authority chose Global Spectrum of Philadelphia to manage the 38-year-old arena and 10-year-old Rentschler Field across the Connecticut River in East Hartford.

U.S. banks are looking to capitalize on a dearth of financing for Europe’s commercial property market that’s driven lending margins to five times the level prior to the 2008 crisis.

Moody’s affirmed the speculative grade rating of one interest-only class from a 1997 commercial mortgage-backed securities deal.

El Paso can go ahead with plans to issue $50 million of revenue bonds for a downtown baseball stadium after a favorable ruling in a bond validation lawsuit.

Repeat modifications in securitized product are growing even though the overall modification rate through 2012 was much lower.

Record mortgage profits that drove earnings at Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase are fading as increased competition keeps the rates banks are offering on new loans near all-time lows.

Despite early industry efforts to establish recommended industry standards for private-label residential mortgage-backed securities representations and warranties, some issuers are trying to diversify their approaches.

Federal Reserve meeting minutes showed policy makers continued to debate when to start trimming debt purchases.

Mutual First Financial saw its mortgage volumes grow in 2012, a period during which it generated relative year-to-year gains in earnings.

Canadian existing-home sales rose for the first time in four months in January on gains in Toronto and Vancouver.

Treasury 10-year note yields traded close to the highest in 10 months on speculation Federal Reserve minutes may provide details on when the central bank plans to start trimming debt purchases.

A bipartisan panel is preparing to release a proposal for scaling back the government role in mortgage finance that would put taxpayer dollars at risk primarily under catastrophic circumstances.

Redwood Trust is validating expectations that it would keep the private-label market of residential mortgage-backed securities alive this year.

Ginnie Mae MBS issuance fell 7% from December to $38.3 billion in January.

Commercial real estate investment veteran Louis Rogers has launched a new venture, Capital Square Realty Advisors.

Newcastle Investment Corp. has completed the sale of 23 million shares of its common stock under its existing shelf registration, generating about $241 million in proceeds with which it is likely to engage in more real estate-related investment.

Institutional Mortgage Capital has completed a privately placed Canadian commercial mortgage-backed securities deal it said shows increasing buyer interest in the asset class.

Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland president Sandra Pianalto said the gains from the Fed’s $85 billion in monthly bond purchase may fade.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg ran the gamut from major development projects to hardening the city from storm damage to calls for a styrofoam ban in his mostly ceremonial 12th and final state of the city address.