Capital markets

From the Common Security Platform and Freddie Mac loan sales to new accounting rules and what direction mortgage rates are headed, there was plenty to debate during this week's MBA Secondary Conference in New York.

The experience of updating systems and overhauling workflows that mortgage lenders gleaned from implementing the TILA-RESPA integrated disclosures could prove useful to portfolio lenders as they implement a similarly complex accounting rule for reporting credit losses.

Mortgage rates held near 2016 lows as a result of minimal action in the 10-year Treasury yield over the past week, according to Freddie Mac.

Fannie Mae forecasts flat to declining 30-year mortgage interest rates this year and next, while Freddie Mac thinks they will increase.

The Indianapolis Federal Home Loan Bank rewarded 43 of its members with a $761,000 payout in May for the performance of their mortgages in an aggregated pool.

Radian Group, the second-largest U.S. mortgage insurer, said Chief Executive Officer S.A. Ibrahim will step down at the end of next year after steering the company through the financial crisis as weaker rivals collapsed.

Russia's moving into mortgage bonds to try to cut housing costs, and it's taking a leaf out of America's book to do so.

Despite a weak first quarter for GDP growth, the Mortgage Bankers Association's Mike Fratantoni still predicts that the Fed will raise short-term interest rates this year. That won't necessarily increase mortgage rates, but other variables might.

This summer, Freddie Mac will start rolling out a suite of tools that should speed sales of loans to the GSE. Relief from reps and warranties will take longer, however.

The June 25 launch, which will provide lenders with much more information about a borrower's credit history, will mark the first widespread use of trended data in the mortgage industry.