Secondary

Government-backed U.S. mortgage bonds posted their worst monthly returns relative to Treasuries since the 2008 financial crisis as the $5.5 trillion market braces for a surge in homeowner refinancing.

The widespread return of the subprime mortgage business will be the big event for the mortgage industry in 2015.

Fannie Mae provided $28.9 billion in financing to the multifamily market last year that supported 446,000 housing units.

JPMorgan and Barclays plan to securitize 44 commercial mortgage loans that total $836.5 million. The loans are secured by 91 properties.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency will require nonbank mortgage firms to meet minimum liquidity and net worth standards to curb risks to taxpayers from the rapidly expanding industry.

Two Republican legislators have suggested that affordable housing funding should be put on hold until Congress finally decides what to do about Fannie and Freddie. But why give Congress another six years to fiddle around with housing finance while the poor and homeless face a declining level of government housing assistance?

The Internal Revenue Service recently closed two audits of bonds issued in Colorado with no change to the bonds' tax-exempt statuses.

Stability is gradually returning to the housing market following the foreclosure crisis, according to Freddie Mac.

TCF Financial took $44 million in charges to rid itself of mortgages made before the housing collapse. A distressed-asset investor purchased more than $400 million in loans from the company, and another pool of bad mortgages may be marked for sale soon.

The Treasury Department has exceeded its authority by keeping Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in conservatorship so long and taking all their profits, two legislative experts said Thursday.