GSEs

The Chicago, Des Moines and Cincinnati FHLBs have grown their life insurance company membership the most in recent years.

Investors continue to demand additional yield for exposure to defaults on loans insured by the Fannie Mae.

Fannie and Freddie have been selling pools of delinquent mortgages at auction to the highest bidders. Community groups say the Federal Housing Finance Agency should be giving preferential treatment to nonprofits and community development financial institutions.

Fannie Mae has released the list of winners from its fourth nonperforming loan sale, which included a Goldman Sachs subsidiary.

The Detroit company is plowing ahead with its growth strategy at a time when some shareholders are agitating over its sagging share price.

Mortgage applications for new home purchases increased 14% on an unadjusted basis from the month before, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association's Builder Application Survey.

Mortgage rates fell for the sixth straight week as market volatility continued, according to the Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey.

The Federal Home Loan Bank system is not a private country club and shouldn't be operating as one. Captive insurance companies represent new potential to expand homeownership opportunities for credit-worthy borrowers.

Strong demand for rentals will keep pace with new construction over the next few years, the government-sponsored enterprise says.

The market for U.S. government mortgage-backed securities remains deeply liquid despite signs that trading conditions have weakened, according to researchers at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

The Fannie Mae Home Purchase Sentiment Index fell 1.7 points to 81.5 in January, reflecting the effects of decreasing housing affordability.

Housing policy focused on government guarantees and the 30-year mortgage hasn't done much to help low- and middle-income homeowners build wealth.

Arbor Commercial Mortgage has created an online loan-origination service for multifamily lenders.

Opus Capital Markets Consultants, a unit of Wipro, has created a division for identifying operational and loan-level risks within a residential mortgage servicing operation.

Freddie Mac has taken out another reinsurance policy that transfers risk of default on mortgages it insures.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac unveiled an appeals process Tuesday that will allow an independent arbitrator to resolve disputes between lenders and the government-sponsored enterprises over loan repurchase demands.

Lenders argue that the GSEs would be better off buying more loans that are already insured, rather than transferring credit risk after holding them for a time. But Freddie Mac's Kevin Palmer says certainty of reimbursement is more important than the timing of risk transfers.

Loan originations for commercial and multifamily properties climbed in the fourth quarter compared to last year, the Mortgage Bankers Association said.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency's Duty-to-Serve rule must include a substantive commitment from the government-sponsored enterprises to purchase chattel loans.

United Guaranty's spinoff from American International Group will result in changes to its capital structure that could shake up the competitive landscape in the private mortgage insurance market.