Economy

The Federal Housing Finance Agency is seeking to make it easier for Federal Home Loan Banks to accept certain kinds of collateral for advances.

Liquidity is waning in markets for residential mortgages and related securities, and regulators and policymakers need to address this issue before it turns into a crisis, according to Kroll Bond Rating Agency.

Sales of previously owned homes dropped more than forecast in July from a nine-year high, restrained by limited choices for buyers, National Association of Realtors data showed Wednesday.

Home prices rose 5.6% in the second quarter from a year earlier, extending gains that have cut into affordability for many buyers.

MountainView Servicing Group is the exclusive adviser for the sale of a nonrecourse servicing portfolio of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans.

The latest lending figures show just how prodigious banks' shift from construction to C&I loans has been since the crisis. Yet a hard look at C&I credits, especially their loss rates, raises questions about whether they are safer.

Toll Brothers Inc., the biggest U.S. luxury homebuilder, rose the most in three years after reporting earnings and sales that beat estimates, a sign that buyer demand remains robust for high-end properties.

Oakland's housing market is still soaring even as growth cools in San Francisco, where million-dollar median home prices have left buyers searching for more affordable alternatives.

New specifications for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's common mortgage application unveiled Tuesday add data points and remove obsolete questions, as well as include additional capabilities to promote digital mortgage workflows.

Existing and prospective homeowners are split about which presidential candidate is better for real estate.

Purchases of new homes unexpectedly jumped in July to the highest level in almost nine years, led by soaring demand in the nation's South and adding to signs of persistent housing-market strength.

Daniel Mudd ended a five-year fight with the U.S. government Monday after the former head of Fannie Mae agreed to pay $100,000 to settle allegations that he misled investors about the mortgage backer’s exposure to subprime loans during the run-up to the financial crisis.

As the volume of maturing commercial mortgages has spiked, so has the number of loans transferred to special servicing when they fail to pay off.

The market for existing home sales moved closer to its full potential in July, according to First American Financial Corp.

Nationwide, new home construction isn't keeping up with rising prices and demand. But in certain areas of the Southwest and Southeast, builders are bucking this trend, creating housing supply that is more flexible to market fluctuations.

The president and founder of a now-defunct Massachusetts-based mortgage company was charged with defrauding Ginnie Mae to the tune of $3 million.

The first commercial mortgage-backed security to comply with "skin in the game" requirements was extremely well received. Market participants credit the way the large banks sponsoring the deal retained the risk – a strategy unavailable to nonbank lenders.

Mortgage rates edged downward this week as the market anticipated Wednesday's release of the minutes from the Federal Open Market Committee's July meeting, Freddie Mac reported.

United Bankshares in Charleston, W.Va., has agreed to buy Cardinal Financial in Tysons Corner, Va.

The hole at the corner of 15th and L streets, in downtown Washington, is deep – and getting deeper.