Secondary

PHH Corp. reported a bigger loss in the fourth quarter, on costs to restructure its business and a loss on sales of mortgage servicing rights.

Fannie Mae has sold a pool of about $13.2 million of nonperforming loans to New Jersey Community Capital.

Home prices rose 5.8% in the fourth quarter from a year earlier as buyers competed for a tight supply of listings.

An increased level of home-purchase mortgage applications led to continued improvement in the U.S. housing market in December, according to Freddie Mac.

Nationstar Mortgage is in the market with the second rated securitization of what are nonperforming Home Equity Conversion Mortgage loans, according to Moody's Investors Service.

Purchases of new homes dropped more than forecast in January as contract signings slumped in the western U.S. by the most since May 2010.

Meaningful rules encouraging Fannie and Freddie to do more with manufactured housing would allow more lenders into the market and make pricing more competitive.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group is building a U.S. mortgage-bond trading team as tough lending conditions in Japan spur the nation's biggest bank to expand overseas.

Sales of previously owned homes unexpectedly rose in January to the second-highest pace since early 2007, indicating the industry will keep prospering.

The affordable housing market has dried up in major cities across the country. In response, regulators and lenders are looking into new programs to get people back into single-family homes while also exploring ways to encourage multifamily developments.