Secondary

Surging U.S. home prices could help shrink the Federal Housing Administration’s projected shortfall in President Obama’s budget due on Wednesday.

Colony Financial has priced a $175 million debt offering at an interest rate of 5% and has granted underwriters an option to buy an additional $25 million of notes to cover overallotments.

The government still dominates the secondary mortgage market but the trend is starting to shift.

A federal court in New York ordered Standard & Poor’s to produce all records related to $72 million of failed mortgage-backed securities CUNA Mutual Group bought from RBS Securities.

UBS-Barclays Commercial Mortgage Trust has another securitization in the works backed by a pool of $1.29 billion of loans.

Mortgage bankers we spoke to recently felt there is no new bubble forming, and that what is happening is a normal correction. We hope they are right!

Banks are lobbying against international plans to tighten rules on securitization claiming they will tie up capital and starve the economy of credit.

Concerns about the integrity of foreclosed property management costs are prompting Fannie Mae and its government overseer, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, to take a hard look at the GSE's controls.

Prepayment speeds on 30-year conventional fixed-rate securitizations generally remained stable in the latest month, although some Home Affordable Refinance Program cohorts “were a tad faster” and lower coupons slowed a bit.

As investors continue their interest in buying single-family housing units as rentals, it may not always make sense to acquire housing units in certain markets.