Economy

Loans bought on the secondary market have become increasingly important as borrower demand has ebbed and companies have sought to obtain mortgages through additional outlets to maintain production levels.

The head of the Federal Reserve appeared to support Congress’s expanding the scope of the Community Reinvestment Act to unregulated institutions, just as regulators weigh how to modernize the framework for banks.

The unusually strong production numbers seen in the first quarter of this year show loanDepot is emerging as a contender in the battle for loan volume and market share amid an industry price war.

Hedge accounting will align Fannie’s reporting with competitor Freddie Mac, and will address a mismatch between the recorded value of financial instruments used to offset interest-rate volatility on mortgages and the loans themselves.

Depressed Treasury yields have kept mortgage rates under 3% recently, but positive economic news could indicate larger increases will follow this week’s uptick.

Only $89 billion of the $362 billion in new single-family volume came from purchase mortgages.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has moved ahead with an earlier proposal to postpone the full adoption of the qualified-mortgage ability-to-repay rule, citing a need to maximize borrowers' credit access.

It would be available to homeowners making 80% or less of their area’s median income who weren't eligible to tap into low rates last year.

A new commercial-mortgage loan for seven facilities operated by the self-storage REIT is the largest of 41 loans in the conduit deal.

System updates, which may be a result of changes to the Preferred Stock Purchase Agreements, have Community Home Lenders Association members saying loans that were approved previously are getting rejected when put back through.

At first the deal seemed an unlikely marriage of two mortgage-heavy companies. But acquiring the Michigan company would help New York Community accomplish its two chief goals — reducing deposit costs and its concentration of multifamily loans — while giving it the scale to pursue more deals.

However, conditions for commercial mortgages overall worsened slightly due to persistent concerns in the hotel and office sectors, a Moody’s Investors Service report found.

The merger would create a company with nearly 400 branches, 87 loan production offices and $87 billion of assets.

Inflation, an improving economy and the increased federal budget deficit make rate increase inevitable this year, the Mortgage Bankers Association said.

While it’s the third straight week of a downward trend, borrowers likely have only a brief opportunity to take advantage of sub-3% rates before a reversal comes.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s new limits on loans secured by investor properties and second homes may put pressure on applicants to misrepresent their occupancy status.

Long-term home-based operations are more likely than they were prior in March of last year, but some origination and servicing professionals will return to the office, a recent survey suggests.

Municipal bonds have a direct effect on the social and cultural character of cities, metropolitan areas, counties, and states. Munis and the initiatives they support such as public education, housing subsidies, public transit systems, and more, can often be linked to local or regional politics. Join Lynne Funk, Executive Editor at The Bond Buyer and Destin Jenkins, Neubauer Family Assistant Professor of History at the University of Chicago as they explore how municipal bond mismanagement can have contrasting influences on the different ethnic groups in our cities.

The government sponsored enterprise’s latest forecast calls for a nearly $4 trillion year for 2021.

While home sales have softened since October, they are still above pre-pandemic levels, indicating that construction activity will remain strong for some time.