Secondary

Prices for loans underlying commercial mortgage-backed securities held steady over the past month, according to DebtX, which operates an online marketplace for loan sales.

IntercontinentalExchange Group Inc. is pitching Wall Street on new derivative contracts allowing investors to wager on U.S. homeowner defaults, six years after subprime-mortgage swaps helped fuel the financial crisis, according to five people with knowledge of the matter.

A roundup of comments on our Editor at Large blog, from the best and brightest to the not-so-bright.

Yes, subprime lending is picking up. But industry experts believe regulatory reform and new documentation requirements will prevent bubble-era style risk layering from re-emerging.

Wells Fargo and Bank of America posted double-digit increases on the amount of credit provided to mortgage bankers in 2013. Most other warehouse lenders' commitments shrunk.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could require an additional bailout of as much as $190 billion in a severe economic downturn, according to the results of stress tests released by the regulator for the U.S.-owned companies.

The proposed federal mortgage guarantor in the Senate reform bill needs 5% hard equity to protect taxpayers, but 10% capital to pass Congress, the Housing Policy Council's John Dalton reckons.

Wells Fargo's loans make up around 20% of the pools referenced in credit risk-sharing transactions issued by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac through March, according to Fitch.

The company is using proprietary automation to support the channel. Jeff Walsh, who formerly was involved in another wholesale startup, heads the new operation.

First Horizon National Corp. is getting closer to putting its mortgage woes behind it.