Secondary

Maxex, a company that acts as a private exchange for residential mortgage sales, is seeing a pickup in business as sellers seek additional outlets for their nonagency loans.

Impac Mortgage Holdings decided a year ago to emphasize its non-qualified mortgage lending operations and placed the company in position to succeed when the housing market returns to normal.

Home price gains continued during the fourth quarter and pushed the share of upside-down mortgages to the lowest level since the housing crisis, according to CoreLogic.

Not so long after Treasury bond yields experienced an unprecedented drop, the average 30-year mortgage rate rose, reflecting volatility related to the coronavirus as well as capacity issues on multiple levels.

Companies in the mortgage business were already focused on processing a lot of loans and generating efficiencies before the latest uptick in business hit.

Bank of America cut its ratings and price targets on several homebuilders and building products companies as the firm is bracing for the "inevitable" coronavirus impact on the U.S. housing market.

With the return of volume and profitability to mortgage lending, it is no surprise that commercial banks are coming back to the market.

Terry Wakefield, a technology consultant who helped launch Fannie Mae's mortgage-backed securities business and form Prudential Home Mortgage, has died. He was 70.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac coming out of conservatorship and transitioning into public utilities would be the ideal for small mortgage lenders, according to trade-organization representative Robert Zimmer.

Mortgage companies that borrow heavily to keep their operations running may face financial pressure from coronavirus-related market volatility as it affects the valuations of collateral securing their financing.