Origination

Bank of America's mortgage banking income was down 26% from a year ago due to a decrease in core loan production revenue and higher intercompany charges during the fourth quarter.

Interstate Hotels & Resorts in Arlington, Va., has formed a partnership with Hospitality Funding to provide financing for hotel development projects.

In one corner are groups like the Community Home Lenders Association and the major credit union groups, which are hoping the administration will further cut premiums after a reduction a year ago. On the other are MBA and ICBA, which argue a cut now would be too soon.

Synovus Financial in Columbus, Ga., reported a higher fourth-quarter profit on stronger interest and fee income.

Activist investor Carl Icahn, who's pushing American International Group Inc. Chief Executive Officer Peter Hancock to shrink the insurer and boost returns, said the CEO must offer "a drastic strategic shift" at a presentation scheduled for next week. Icahn's plan includes splitting AIG into three units, one being United Guaranty Corp., a private mortgage insurer.

Confidence among U.S. homebuilders was unchanged at the start of year, indicating the residential real estate market was sustaining the steady progress made in 2015.

Agency and government loan programs will be a little different in the next 12 months. There also will be new rules for private-label securitizations, along with new products available to investors. Here is an overview.

Fourth-quarter mortgage banking income at Wells Fargo & Co. totaled $1.7 billion, up 10% from the $1.5 billion recorded in the fourth quarter of 2014, as the gain on originations and sales increased by $145 million year-over-year.

Mortgage real estate investment trusts will be hurt modestly in the long run, now that they have been excluded from membership in the Federal Home Loan Bank System, according to Fitch Ratings.

Life insurance companies posted a higher return on their private commercial mortgage investments in the third quarter of 2015, compared to the second quarter, according to LifeComps.