Mortgage defaults

Residential mortgage delinquencies dropped in the fourth quarter, as employment numbers improve and housing prices increase, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

At the onset of the millennium, house flippers — people who purchased imperfect homes, renovated them and resold them at a profit mere months later — ran rampant in U.S. housing markets.

Mortgage delinquency levels fell about 30% last year, even as borrowers received more credit, according to TransUnion.

Low borrowing costs and rising home values are just two of several reasons why owning a home is far less burdensome than it was a decade ago.

Investors continue to demand additional yield for exposure to defaults on loans insured by the Fannie Mae.

Fannie and Freddie have been selling pools of delinquent mortgages at auction to the highest bidders. Community groups say the Federal Housing Finance Agency should be giving preferential treatment to nonprofits and community development financial institutions.

United Guaranty reported pretax operating income of $644 million for 2015 while its new insurance written increased by 21%.

Atlantic City, N.J., has the fifth worst vacancy rate in the U.S, according to RealtyTrac.

Fannie Mae has released the list of winners from its fourth nonperforming loan sale, which included a Goldman Sachs subsidiary.

Arch's mortgage insurance unit saw an increase of over 1,000% in fourth-quarter underwriting income due to a significant decline in losses and loss-adjustment expenses.