Banking

While student, auto and credit card balances are at or near record levels, housing debt is shrinking, credit quality is weakening a bit and lending standards, at least in some sectors, are tightening.

Bridgeview Bancorp floated its name with 14 potential buyers, but it only attracted serious interest once it promised to divest a mortgage business that recorded a double-digit decline in fee income last year.

Recent data from the Federal Reserve suggests lenders are growing pessimistic about the credit environment. But is that a sign of trouble ahead, or just sound risk management?

HomeStreet Bank will attempt to sell its stand-alone mortgage business and portfolio of servicing rights, a move that comes amid growing pressure from an activist investor to exit home lending and concerns about declining demand and regulatory challenges.

Refinance volume slipped following growth in mortgage rates, and loans refinanced through the Home Affordable Housing Program barely made a dent in overall volume, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

Mortgage delinquencies in the fourth quarter were at their lowest level in nearly 19 years, helped by wage growth, low household debt and low unemployment, the Mortgage Bankers Association said.

The government-sponsored enterprises are going through a transition period. From proposals for rebuilding their capital cushions to tackling shortages in affordable housing, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac face a number of key challenges with wide-ranging consequences this year.

The bureau wants to further remove the threat of legal liability for firms that test products benefiting consumers, but the attorneys general say the agency cannot provide immunity from state law.

If the government insists on forcing another shutdown, business owners are intent on letting Congress know how much the last one hurt.

Late payments on loans backing commercial mortgage bonds continued falling at the start of the year, due to strong new issuance volume and continued resolutions for precrisis loans by special servicers, according to Fitch Ratings.