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The House Financial Services Committee chairman's effort to make changes to a Dodd-Frank revision bill could either give him a defining victory or extend his losing streak.

A stronger than expected refinance market led Fannie Mae to increase its origination projections for the first quarter by nearly 4% in its March outlook.

Fidelity National Financial's proposed purchase of Stewart Information Services could solidify FNF's leading market share among title insurers if regulators don't balk at its scope.

Nonbanks are originating more commercial mortgages on fixer-uppers in response to a sharp drop in the cost of funding in the securitization market. These deals are said to be "vastly different" than other CRE instruments that sustained big losses in the crisis — so far.

Fannie Mae is about to roll out a new underwriting system that will address some concerns about layered risk that cropped up after it raised its maximum debt-to-income ratio.

First the House and now the Senate have included provisions in their regulatory relief bills that bankers say would go a long way toward clearing up confusion over how to treat high-volatility commercial real estate loans.

Mortgage lenders are growing more pessimistic about their profitability, with the highest percentage ever seen in Fannie Mae's first-quarter industry sentiment survey expecting a decline in margins.

Just one year after it got a $1.05 billion loan from a trio of banks (Goldman, BofA and Citi), Blackstone has obtained a new, $1.3 billion loan from two more banks: Barclays and Deutsche.

The security that was incorporated into the index is backed exclusively by loans on green building certified properties; the GSE is still working on acceptance of financing for green upgrades.

Freddie Mac and Arch Capital are testing a new form of risk-sharing deal to boost investor appetite for low down payment mortgages. But the pilot is raising concerns about "charter creep" because it dictates private mortgage insurance decisions typically made by lenders.