GSEs

Studying borrowers' credit characteristics and tightening quality control are more important to how mortgages perform than the size of down payments.

During last year's fourth quarter, commercial and multifamily loan originations increased by 11% from the same time a year before, a new report by the Mortgage Bankers Association says.

Efforts by investors in the government-sponsored enterprises to find a more friendly court to challenge the government's management of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac fell flat in Iowa.

While many of the lenders and investment firms seeking to profit from higher-risk mortgages are working to revive the business of bundling such loans into bonds, Citadel, one of the biggest players, is in no rush to see that happen.

The Super Bowl is history, marking the start of a new high-stakes season: the spring real estate market. After what many industry insiders considered a disappointing 2014, hopes are high for 2015.

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.