GSEs

Regulators want Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to build up massive amounts of capital before being freed from government control. Don Layton, Freddie's departing chief executive officer says that's easier said than done.

One of the hardest financial parts of buying a new home is coming up with the initial down payment on the mortgage loan.

With prospects for government-sponsored enterprise reform improving, players in the private residential mortgage-backed securities market are starting to think about how they could better compete against the GSEs while awaiting change.

The shift to nonbank lenders will put the breaks on non-qualified mortgage and home equity line of credit origination growth.

Housing finance reform cannot be piecemeal, but must be done using a comprehensive approach, an independent mortgage banker says.

His administration is looking at different alternatives to reform the housing finance system.

BB&T's acquisition of SunTrust may make the combined company more of a contender in regional metro-area commercial mortgage lending, according to data provider CrediFi.

Craig Phillips, who has been developing the Trump administration's plan to help free Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from conservatorship, will leave Treasury next month.

Even if the U.S. economy slows during the rest of 2019, the outlook for the housing and mortgage market remains strong, said economists at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

PIMCO Mortgage Income Trust tabled plans to launch an initial public offering this week following a steep stock market decline Monday.

In his first public policy speech as director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, Mark Calabria stressed that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will have to raise significant capital via a public offering and take other steps in order to escape government control.

Two senators, a Republican and a Democrat, have revived legislation that would prohibit Congress from using certain fees collected by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to offset unrelated government spending.

Even though mortgage delinquencies increased on a quarter-to-quarter basis, strong overall metrics mitigate any concerns regarding future loan performance, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

First-quarter operating revenue in Equifax's Mortgage Solutions unit was the lowest it's been for the fiscal period since 2016, and the company anticipates declines in this division will remain a concern.

While prepayment speeds on agency mortgage-backed securities rose in April, that increase should be short-lived as further significant interest drops are not expected, said a report from Keefe, Bruyette & Woods.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency has named three senior advisers for policy, economics and communications.

Lower rates hurt the value of Impac Mortgage Holdings' servicing rights and overall earnings in the first quarter, but they could help improve the company's second-quarter results.

Mortgage lending credit standards loosened a bit last month as investors displayed more interest in non-qualified mortgage and nonagency jumbo loans to stay competitive, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Investors can now exchange certain existing Freddie Mac bonds for to-be-announced uniform mortgage-backed securities in preparation for the full launch of UMBS next month.

A GSE exemption in the bureau’s “qualified mortgage” rule is set to sunset in 2021, and regulators should not try to extend it as some experts have suggested.