Secondary

Falling mortgage rates have reached the point where they are spurring speculation about a possible resurgence in refinancing.

With its bolstered fundraising cache, the Mortgage Bankers Association Political Action Committee should hold an increased influence over the industry's policy and regulation issues in the coming year.

New Fed Mortgage's pending acquisition of Commonwealth Mortgage LLC will allow it to expand its geographic footprint outside of New England.

Rising mortgage rates are helping decelerate home price growth, which is expected to slow further during the coming year, according to CoreLogic. Consumer uncertainty in the economy due to stock market declines may also weaken house values.

Bank OZK's George Gleason, one of our community bankers to watch in 2019, needs to rein in the Arkansas bank's commercial real estate exposure to placate nervous investors.

Fannie Mae's overall single-family serious delinquency rate dropped another notch in November, according to its most recent report, but the current government shutdown raises questions about whether that trend will continue.

Nonbank lenders are gearing up for new secondary market requirements and must make some difficult choices about whether to buy, sell or hold mortgage servicing rights, says Ruth Lee, the executive vice president of MorVest Capital.

The expected decline in conventional mortgage volume may open the door for more non-qualified mortgage lending as secondary market investors seek new opportunities to deploy capital, says Tom Millon, CEO of Capital Markets Cooperative.

The single-family rental market could benefit from more consistent loan terms and expanded secondary mortgage market opportunities, Freddie Mac found in a preliminary test of expanded involvement in the sector.

Freddie Mac issued its first non-low-income housing tax credit forward commitment, providing financing for an affordable housing development in Minnesota.