Economy

The Rural Housing Service should merge with the Federal Housing Administration to save money and improve service, the head of the Government Accountability Office testified Tuesday.

Lost in the debate so far over Shelby's regulatory relief bill are the significant changes it makes to the housing finance system. It essentially takes consensus elements from multiple past stabs at reform, leaving out the most controversial parts and making future reform far easier.

Fannie Mae is planning to follow the lead of its rival, Freddie Mac, and offer securities with exposure to actual losses on the single-family mortgages that it ensures.

It's a good idea to raise the asset threshold at which financial institutions are automatically designated as systemically important financial institutions. But Sen. Richard Shelby's proposed legislation for regulatory relief does require one crucial change.

New residential construction surged in April to the highest level in more than seven years, indicating the industry regained its footing after the soft patch at the beginning of the year.

The Mortgage Bankers Association has formed three new partnerships in an effort to provide new benefits to members.

Politicians and regulators need to get with the times — for the sake of the housing market and its participants.

The regulatory relief package coming before the Senate Banking Committee Thursday would force the Federal Housing Finance Agency to withdraw the contentious proposal within 30 days.

Dime Community and Flushing Financial are selling real estate in the borough, taking advantage of rising real estate prices. The banks are using process to reinvest in branches and technology.

As major banks have pulled back from originating Federal Housing Administration single-family loans, nonbank mortgage lenders have become bigger players in the Ginnie Mae program.

Confidence among homebuilders unexpectedly fell in May, reflecting cooling sales and slower buyer traffic, a sign the residential real estate market will take time to gain momentum.

RMBS 3.0 investors are turning their attention to service performance in new transactions, following years of difficulties in the mortgage servicing sector, according to Fitch Ratings.

A lack of available financing for small investors is hindering the recovery of the commercial real estate market, says National Association of Realtors Chief Economist Lawrence Yun.

Nomura Holdings Inc. and Royal Bank of Scotland Group should pay $806 million in damages to government-owned mortgage companies over misleading securities pitches, a federal housing agency told a judge.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency provided more details Friday about key features for the new single security that will be issued by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

The Mortgage Bankers Association's Builder Application Survey reported that applications for new-home purchases rose by just 0.3% in April.

April home sales were up 5.4% and prices up 6.5% from the previous year, real estate brokerage Redfin reported.

The multifamily market is heating up as apartment owners and investors refinance in a rush to lock in low interest rates, but caps on government-backed lending programs are threatening to disrupt momentum.

Nationstar Mortgage Holdings president and chief operating officer Harold Lewis has announced his plans to retire and resign his posts with the company, effective May 31.

Lenders are heading into the MBA's Secondary Market Conference with stronger origination volumes and secondary market relationships than last year. But how long will these volumes last and how can the industry make the most of them?