Mortgage defaults

Foreclosures nationwide continued to decrease in December, according to CoreLogic.

Genworth's U.S. mortgage insurance business earned $179 million in 2015, but the parent company lost $615 million as it still has problems with its long-term care insurance product.

After years of refi-fueled origination volume, lenders have their hopes pegged to a resurgent purchase market in 2016 and beyond. But it raises an important question: will strategic default rear its head again in the next downturn?

The rate of home price recovery during the seven years that a foreclosure remains on a consumer's credit report is one measure of whether borrowers who strategically defaulted made the right choice by walking away. But the results vary, depending on when, where and in what price tier that borrowers defaulted.

Borrowers who walked away from underwater mortgages are coming back to the market. Some lenders are ready to give them a second chance.

Freddie Mac has taken out another reinsurance policy that transfers risk of default on mortgages it insures.

The delinquency rate on commercial mortgage-backed securities dropped sharply in January, thanks to the resolution of New York's Stuyvesant Town loan, according to Trepp.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac unveiled an appeals process Tuesday that will allow an independent arbitrator to resolve disputes between lenders and the government-sponsored enterprises over loan repurchase demands.

Credit default swap spreads have widened substantially for MGIC Investment Corp. since the start of the new year, reflecting changes in policy pricing, according to a report from Fitch Solutions.

The number of U.S. mortgages that were underwater continued to improve in the fourth quarter, although there are still millions of properties in the category, according to RealtyTrac.