Economy

Fannie Mae has closed a credit risk-sharing transaction, with an international reinsurance company participating in this type of deal for the first time.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's decisions to make their automated underwriting systems free to use will feed more data to the GSEs, but do little to better serve lenders and borrowers.

New-home construction climbed in July to the highest level in almost eight years, indicating the industry will pick up in the second half of the year.

J.G. Wentworth Co. has begun a marketing campaign to call attention to its new home-lending business.

The Houston housing market still runs the risk of a pullback, based on a range of economic conditions affecting the city, according to Fitch Ratings.

Confidence among homebuilders climbed in August to the highest level in almost a decade, indicating the residential real estate market is making strides.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have a regulatory mandate to shrink. But that's easier said than done, given the GSEs' outsized presence in the mortgage industry, as their latest quarterly results show.

Ginnie Mae guaranteed $47.1 billion of mortgage-backed securities in July, setting a monthly record.

Four more Federal Home Loan Banks have won regulatory approval to participate in a program that allows member institutions to sell jumbo mortgage loans through a conduit to Redwood Trust.

Freddie Mac has begun an auction of delinquent nonperforming loans serviced by Ocwen Financial.

It was a small deal — about 220 U.S. home loans packaged into a $72 million bond offering — but it's looking like a post-crisis milestone.

Banks that sold faulty mortgage-backed securities right before the crisis have suffered a string of legal defeats over the timing of government lawsuits, but some experts believe the industry may still have a shot in the Supreme Court.

The New York metro area leads the nation in commercial and multifamily construction starts, according to a new report.

In 1979, mortgage bankers worried that they could be undercut by "sleeping giants" like Merrill Lynch, Sears Roebuck and what was then called Master Charge.

As the Small Business Administration's flagship 7(a) loan program breaks records, its other loan program stagnates. Advocates for so-called 504 loans hope a drive to permit CRE refinancing will inject new life.

Applications for mortgages for new purchases fell 4% in July compared to June, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency is expected to issue a proposal soon that would require Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to purchase manufactured housing loans from lenders.

Jones Lang LaSalle in Chicago has agreed to acquire Oak Grove Commercial Mortgage, to expand its debt-finance offerings.

Homeownership is out of reach for too many Americans. The next president could change that with a few simple policies aimed at encouraging private capital to invest in residential mortgages.

Americans living in rentals spent almost a third of their incomes on housing in the second quarter, the highest share in recent history.