Secondary

The agency scrapped a part of its 2014 proposal that would have required Home Loan Bank members to maintain a certain percentage of residential mortgage assets in order to keep their membership. But the agency held fast on a provision that would disqualify captive insurance firms from membership.

Walker & Dunlop has agreed to acquire the other half of a commercial mortgage-backed securities joint venture it has with Fortress Investment Group.

The commercial mortgage-backed securities delinquency rate finished 2015 at a six-year low, according to Fitch Ratings.

CrediFi, a New York-based provider of commercial property data, is launching CMBS Suite, which it said is an information resource for lenders looking to refinance securitized commercial mortgages.

A flattening of the yield curve could spell good news for the mortgage market, according to Fitch Ratings.

The Federal Reserve's interest rate increase has commercial real estate debt and equity financing players even more upbeat about their prospects in 2016.

Consumers became more encouraged by the housing market in December, as they reflected on their higher wages compared to a year earlier, Fannie Mae said.

Forget bigger is better. Several private-equity-backed lenders are making loans to small landlords, who represent the biggest chunk of the home-rental market and get less help from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac than they once did.

Mortgage rates rang in the new year by keeping below 4%, according to the Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey.

Freddie Mac has formed a partnership with the Lenders One Mortgage co-operative to give its members benefits on pricing and in other areas.