Secondary

The Federal Reserve's interest rate increase has commercial real estate debt and equity financing players even more upbeat about their prospects in 2016.

Consumers became more encouraged by the housing market in December, as they reflected on their higher wages compared to a year earlier, Fannie Mae said.

Forget bigger is better. Several private-equity-backed lenders are making loans to small landlords, who represent the biggest chunk of the home-rental market and get less help from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac than they once did.

Mortgage rates rang in the new year by keeping below 4%, according to the Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey.

Freddie Mac has formed a partnership with the Lenders One Mortgage co-operative to give its members benefits on pricing and in other areas.

KeyCorp is hiring Royal Bank of Canada's head of mortgage-bond trading, Joe Vaccaro, and structured products salesman Mike Corsi as the regional lender expands its bond business, according to three people with knowledge of the matter.

Fannie Mae said that those affected by floods across the Midwest may have access to mortgage assistance.

The demand for affordable rental properties has long outstripped the supply, with the gap widening as incomes have stagnated, homeownership rates have fallen and rents have soared in recent years. But now, banks are finding a profitable path to helping ease this severe national shortage.

Two Harbors is marketing its first residential mortgage securitization of the year, according to Fitch Ratings.

As the mortgage industry begins the New Year, National Mortgage News takes a look at the biggest trends and topics that will shape 2016.