Secondary

Mortgage applications for new home purchases increased 14% on an unadjusted basis from the month before, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association's Builder Application Survey.

Mortgage rates fell for the sixth straight week as market volatility continued, according to the Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey.

Blackstone portfolio company Incenter has agreed to purchase Interactive Mortgage Advisers.

Morgan Stanley agreed to pay $3.2 billion to end a joint federal-state investigation into its handling of mortgage-backed securities, the fourth deal to be struck in a probe of the big U.S. banks' role in the subprime mortgage meltdown and the financial crisis it spawned.

The Federal Home Loan Bank system is not a private country club and shouldn't be operating as one. Captive insurance companies represent new potential to expand homeownership opportunities for credit-worthy borrowers.

Strong demand for rentals will keep pace with new construction over the next few years, the government-sponsored enterprise says.

Redwood Trust said it will stop originating commercial mortgages for securitization and focus solely on investing in bonds backed by commercial mortgages originated by others.

Arch's mortgage insurance unit saw an increase of over 1,000% in fourth-quarter underwriting income due to a significant decline in losses and loss-adjustment expenses.

Fitch Ratings is warning about the mezzanine tranches of commercial mortgage securitization by Morgan Stanley and Bank of America Merrill Lynch, though it is still rating the notes.

Many institutional investors are refusing to purchase mortgages loans until they get assurance from the CFPB that they won't have to pay for others' mistakes. Their pullback could further the slow the issuance of private-label mortgage bonds this year, a huge concern at a time when the majority of home loans are insured by Fannie, Freddie and the FHA.