GSEs

Government-backed U.S. mortgage bonds posted their worst monthly returns relative to Treasuries since the 2008 financial crisis as the $5.5 trillion market braces for a surge in homeowner refinancing.

The widespread return of the subprime mortgage business will be the big event for the mortgage industry in 2015.

Fannie Mae provided $28.9 billion in financing to the multifamily market last year that supported 446,000 housing units.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency will require nonbank mortgage firms to meet minimum liquidity and net worth standards to curb risks to taxpayers from the rapidly expanding industry.

Two Republican legislators have suggested that affordable housing funding should be put on hold until Congress finally decides what to do about Fannie and Freddie. But why give Congress another six years to fiddle around with housing finance while the poor and homeless face a declining level of government housing assistance?

Stability is gradually returning to the housing market following the foreclosure crisis, according to Freddie Mac.

The Treasury Department has exceeded its authority by keeping Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in conservatorship so long and taking all their profits, two legislative experts said Thursday.

Freddie Mac priced its first Structured Agency Credit Risk transaction of the year. The Series 2015-DN1 was upsized to $880 million from $775 million originally.

South Florida is inching closer to housing stability, according to a monthly report by Freddie Mac.

Mortgage interest rates rose by three basis points compared with the previous week, the first time there has been an increase since the last week of December, according to Freddie Mac.

Regulatory attention is supposed to be laser-focused on servicers right now, especially when it comes to how consistent they are in applying workouts. So regulators should be looking closely at whether loans have forbearance.

A judge rejected a bid by the U.S. to put on hold a series of suits by Fairholme Funds and other investors challenging the diversion of profits from Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae to the Treasury.

Aiming to address a nationwide shortage of affordable housing, FHA has launched a risk-sharing pilot program that it hopes will encourage community development lenders to finance the rehabilitation of smaller multifamily apartments.

Arch Capital Group is repurposing a subsidiary to insure mortgages that are headed for private securitizations. Insuring such loans separately from the unit that works with Fannie and Freddie lets Arch offer more favorable terms to lenders.

Mortgage applications were down for the first time this year as both purchase and refinance activity decreased.

More than 300,000 South Floridians who lost their homes during the housing bust could be eligible to own again over the next eight years.

The business of bundling riskier U.S. mortgages into bonds without government backing is gearing up for a comeback. Just don't call it subprime.

At a hearing Tuesday, GOP lawmakers hammered FHFA Director Mel Watt for four hours over his recent decisions to allow Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to buy loans with lower downpayments and provide money to two affordable housing trust funds.

With conservatorship of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac well into its seventh year, the government has now had control of the housing agencies longer than 47 members of the Senate have been office.

Homeowners associations seeking unpaid dues are seizing on a court decision allowing them to foreclose on properties ahead of banks, and the FHFA is litigating to defend Fannie and Freddie mortgages. Private lenders, meanwhile, are trying to keep the problem from spreading to more states.