Secondary

Despite a drop in multifamily loan volume, industrial, health care, office and retail originations pushed overall multifamily and commercial mortgage lending to unprecedented heights, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Simon Property Group agreed to buy rival shopping-mall operator Taubman Centers for about $3.6 billion, a combination that comes as e-commerce continues to roil brick-and-mortar retail.

PMI Rate Pro lets users compare mortgage insurance premium quotes from all six companies in the market.

Ocwen Financial Corp. is on track to become profitable on a pretax basis by the third quarter without any special items enhancing earnings, according to a preliminary release of its fourth-quarter results.

To paint nonbanks as a source of systemic risk, particularly given the track record of commercial banks in causing the 2008 subprime mortgage fiasco, seems absurd.

While loan officers will remain mortgage lenders' leading business development tool in the future, those originators believe business will come from a more diversified source pool, a Fannie Mae survey found.

The strong refinance market in the fourth quarter propelled earnings at three different mortgage-related business that also were dealing with merger and acquisition activity during and after the period.

Debt-to-income doesn't perfectly measure a borrower's likelihood of making timely mortgage payments, but it shouldn't be replaced as the ability-to-repay rule evolves, it should be made more flexible instead.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency plans to increase liquidity standards for nonbank conforming loan servicers, and at the same time raise the net worth requirements for those that also perform the function for Ginnie Mae.

The U.S. mortgage insurance business remained a bright spot for Genworth Financial, as fourth quarter adjusted operating income increased 29% and new insurance written rose nearly 95% over the prior year.