GSEs

The days of vacant, distressed homes covered in sheets of plywood appear numbered, as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac move toward greater adoption of polycarbonate "clear boarding" to secure foreclosure properties.

While consumers pay for mortgage insurance policies, carriers like Arch MI are forging new relationships with real estate agents and strengthening lender partnerships to reach the growing segment of millennial and low-to-moderate-income homebuyers.

Private mortgage insurers have brought their once-beleaguered sector back to financial health. But rebuilding trust with their business partners is still a work in progress.

Fannie Mae's involvement in institutional single-family rental financing bodes well for that market's potential growth, says Investability Real Estate's Chief Revenue Officer Dennis Cisterna.

Fannie Mae said it expects to make a $2.8 billion dividend payment to the U.S. Treasury in June after reporting a first-quarter profit driven by a relatively stable mortgage market and a continued decline in delinquencies.

Real estate finance advisory services and technology provider Situs has purchased The Collingwood Group, a Washington advisory group staffed largely by former government mortgage agency officials.

Freddie Mac's serious delinquency rate dropped below 1% for the first time since 2008, lending credence to its efforts to expand credit access.

The lender relationships resulted from a partnership the government-sponsored enterprise entered into with a non-profit housing group.

A bipartisan group of senators told Mel Watt, the regulator who oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, that he shouldn't allow the companies to recapitalize without congressional approval.

With refinance volume shrinking, some lenders are making up the difference by turning to alternative loan products for borrowers with lower credit scores.