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A new book by the American Enterprise Institute's Peter Wallison reveals how a government push to lower credit standards brought about the housing crisis — and why a new effort to expand homeownership could inadvertently set the stage for a fresh disaster.

Freddie Mac will offer its first external 55-day participation certificate pass-through security, the government-sponsored enterprise announced Monday.

The gap between rental costs and household incomes will continue to rise unless a new home supply ramps up, according to a study by the National Association of Realtors.

Housing starts slumped in February by the most in four years as bad winter weather in parts of the U.S. prevented builders from initiating new projects.

But derivatives that magnified their performance woes were the bigger culprit, according to a new book by investor Howard Hill, who created models for collateralized mortgage obligations before the meltdown.

The Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corp.'s earnings fell in the fourth quarter to $8.9 million, down from $13.4 million during the same period in 2013.

Nomura Holdings Inc. and Royal Bank of Scotland Group helped fuel a bubble that led to the collapse of the U.S. housing market, an attorney for the Federal Housing Finance Agency said at the opening of a trial over defective mortgage-backed securities.

The sale of $16.7 billion in nonperforming loans by the Department of Housing and Urban Development Department helped the owners of about 16,700 homes avoid foreclosure, the agency said.

An expected rush of refinancings of Federal Housing Administration loans could force some mortgage servicers to take writedowns in the first and second quarters, but they have more incentive than ever to keep borrowers in the FHA program instead of letting rivals lure away their customers.

Bipartisan legislation introduced in the Senate this week would make it easier for consumers to secure financing to purchase manufactured housing.