FHFA

Conforming loan limits for mortgages bought by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will increase for the second consecutive year in response to the rapid rise in home prices, the Federal Housing Finance Agency said.

Home prices in 20 U.S. cities rose in September by the most in more than three years, indicating resilient demand at a time of persistently scarce inventory, according to S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller data.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency must set fees equal to the cost of capital that private banks hold against similar risk, not just the amount of capital that Fannie and Freddie think are right for themselves.

Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Mel Watt said the agency is poised to examine alternatives to how a Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac assess creditworthiness of home buyers, including seeking public comment on the issue later this fall.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency added a language preference question to the loan application, rejecting the mortgage industry's wishes.

In a moment of rare unity, the Independent Community Bankers of America and National Association of Federally-Insured Credit Unions sent a joint letter to FHFA arguing to stop the GSEs' profit sweep.

From debating the future compliance landscape to developing a digital mortgage strategy, here's a preview of the top issues, ideas and themes on tap when the industry convenes in Denver for the Mortgage Bankers Association's Annual Convention & Expo.

Government-sponsored enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's guarantee fee pricing last year kept the playing field fairly level for different-sized lenders.

Fannie Mae is putting more than $2 billion in reperforming loans up for bid and also marketing a smaller package of more than $1 billion in nonperforming loans.

While the scale of destruction and suffering caused by Hurricanes Harvey and Irma is staggering, history suggests the local economy and housing markets in the affected areas will bounce back relatively quickly.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were not affected by a hacking incident against the accounting giant Deloitte, the companies said Tuesday, after a British newspaper alleged a server containing emails from government agencies was compromised.

Though FHFA Director Mel Watt stopped short of saying he would break with a Treasury agreement that forces all profits of the GSEs to go to the government, he emphasized that it couldn’t continue indefinitely.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's regulator may have a travel kerfuffle of his own.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency's Duty to Serve program must increase manufactured housing lending in rural communities.

Mortgage investors want Freddie Mac to align its policy with Fannie Mae's when it comes to how delinquencies related to Hurricane Harvey affect credit risk transfer deals.

Despite a direct request by six Democratic senators that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac be allowed to rebuild capital, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin did little to clarify the administration's thinking.

Former Ginnie Mae President Ted Tozer will join securitization pioneer Lewis Ranieri at a new housing policy team at the Milken Institute.

As head of Fannie Mae's single-family mortgage business, Andrew Bon Salle wants to ease the burden of loan-level price adjustments, streamline condo loan approvals and expand rep and warrant relief. But even he admits there are limits to his power.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will adjust their risk-sharing deals so that they can accommodate high loan-to-value loans refinanced under the programs replacing the Home Affordable Refinance Program.

With inventory still low, home prices continued to rise in the second quarter of 2017.