Secondary

Flagstar Bancorp's acquisition of 52 Midwest branches of Wells Fargo helped increase its core customer base, but its mortgage results were lower than anticipated in the fourth quarter, according to the Troy, Mich.-based bank.

Timothy Mayopoulos is back in the mortgage industry, becoming the new president of the digital mortgage technology developer Blend, months after leaving his post as Fannie Mae’s CEO.

The stock market's volatility during December helped to improve the potential for existing-home sales, although housing's performance remains well below its capacity, First American Financial said.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac shares soared Friday amid fresh reports that the Trump administration is working on proposal that would recommend freeing the mortgage-finance giants from government control.

Ditech Holding Corp. fired its chief operating officer after nine months, and entered into a forbearance agreement for a debt payment that was due in December, it said in a regulatory filing.

MGIC Investment Corp. responded to the broad-based roll out of "black box" pricing engines from the other mortgage insurers by bringing its version to market.

The Milken Institute's plan to address the housing finance system proposes a number of measures that could be carried out by regulators, after years of stalled legislative attempts.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are adding another round of new underwriting requirements and a workaround for employment verification in response to the prolonged government shutdown.

Bank of America's first-mortgage production dropped almost 26% year-over-year in the fourth quarter of 2018, but it experienced a less severe 10% decline in home equity lending during the same period.

Radian Group has acquired Five Bridges Advisors, further cementing the new focus of its mortgage and title services business.