GSEs

WASHINGTON — More than two dozen Senate lawmakers signed a letter this week that urges the Federal Housing Finance Agency to drop its proposal to tighten Federal Home Loan Bank membership rules.

In a speech last May, Edward DeMarco declared these truths to be self-evident: "Restoring Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is not the solution. They failed and their business model failed. Going backwards to an obviously failed model cannot be dressed up with some promise of higher capital or explicit rather than implicit guarantees."

The amount of commercial and multifamily mortgage debt outstanding rose to a record high in the third quarter, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

New-home construction exceeded a 1 million annualized pace in November for a third consecutive month, continuing a slow recovery in the housing market.

Confidence among homebuilders hovered in December close to a nine-year high, indicating the residential real estate recovery continues to make progress.

The Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corp. has given its president and chief executive, Timothy Buzby, a two-year extension on his employment contract.

HUD officials had taken a neutral position on whether FHA financing would be available for loans that were seized by cities and written down to their current appraised value.

Despite the mounting charge from burgeoning nonbank servicers, three large banks still control the majority of the servicing market.

There's little point to Fannie and Freddie's large profits if that money is remitted to the Treasury rather than making the GSEs more financially stable.

Mortgage rates edged up slightly over the past week, Freddie Mac said in its weekly market survey.

Radian Group Inc. is seeking to sell bond insurer Radian Asset and Assured Guaranty or MBIA may turn out to be the buyer.

Fannie Mae, risk sharing, private capital, reinsurers.

Funding for housing counseling represents a minuscule fraction of total spending on housing-related initiatives. Still, some question whether taxpayers are getting the best bang for their buck.

Mortgage credit availability increased last month, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Consumers were more optimistic about their ability to buy a home in November compared to the previous month, according to Fannie Mae.

Renters figure to stay renters, at least for the next three years, according to a new report by Freddie Mac.

Mel Watt, down payment, homeownership, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, FHA

Fannie said it will immediately begin accepting applications for fixed-rate 97% loan-to-value financing of borrowers with FICO scores as low as 620. Freddie, meanwhile, took a more cautious approach, delaying the start of the program, requiring credit counseling, and in some cases only allowing FICO scores as low as 660.

With some proposals still outstanding, mortgage bond market participants are concerned that eminent domain attempts would spread if a municipality makes inroads with a proposal.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have set terms for letting borrowers put down as little as 3% of a home's cost to get mortgages, a step criticized by Republican lawmakers as a return to risky lending.