Banking

Fannie Mae touted its financial support to the small multifamily loan market last year, saying it provided $1.6 billion in financing to the sector.

Citing rising cost and time constraints, PHH Corp. will stop internally building its retail originations business and instead focus on acquisitions and its joint venture with Realogy Corp., PHH Home Loans.

Mechanics Bank in Walnut Creek, Calif., has entered the residential mortgage market and hired a banker to lead the new loan group.

Despite dire predictions by banks and others that new mortgage rules by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau would cut off access to credit, the industry is performing well two years after the regulations went into effect, according to the agency's top official.

Bank mortgage originations were up 7% in the fourth quarter of 2015, while the number of Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.-insured institutions that deal primarily in mortgages dropped more than 9% from a year ago.

There is concern that a decline in condo pricing could create loan problems similar to those that cropped up before the financial crisis. Bankers in the area, however, believe foreign investors would take the biggest hit.

The Chicago, Des Moines and Cincinnati FHLBs have grown their life insurance company membership the most in recent years.

Caliber Home Loans has named former CitiMortgage head Sanjiv Das as its next chief executive.

These nine credit unions will implement Intuvo's mortgage automated marketing platform.

American International Group is expanding bets on property lending and safe fixed-income securities after hedge funds investments soured.

Flagstar Bancorp in Troy, Mich., has launched a national homebuilder lending platform.

Bank of Botetourt in Buchanan, Va., said Thursday it has opened a mortgage division to pursue unmet demand for home loans in southwestern Virginia.

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.

The price of the loans underlying commercial mortgage-backed securities declined 210 basis points during 2015, amid a broad rise in interest rates, according to DebtX.

Funding needed to construct houses is fairly plentiful, but homebuilders are still having trouble lining up financing to purchase and develop land. As a result, buildable lots are in short supply — and far more expensive.

Hotel property owners will discover that interest rates have climbed, if they try to refinance loans this year, Fitch Ratings said.

A number of bankers used quarterly earnings calls to assure investors that they are carefully monitoring their exposure to commercial real estate at a time when regulators are expressed concern about eroding underwriting standards.

Financial companies from Quicken Loans to SoFi will be advertising in Sunday's game — a rare sight in recent years — despite the estimate $5 million price tag.

Morgan Stanley will pay $63 million to settle a series of government lawsuits claiming the bank misrepresented securities it sold to banks that later failed.