GSEs

The Federal Housing Finance Agency has proposed a plan that would exempt the Federal Home Loan Banks from conducting stress tests.

Freddie Mac launched a groundbreaking multifamily structured pass-through deal that includes a class of floating rate bonds indexed to the Secured Overnight Financing Rate for the first time ever.

Mortgage lenders became slightly bearish on their profitability outlook in the fourth quarter, with the competitive landscape and shift to a purchase market cited as the main concerns, according to Fannie Mae.

Most commercial and multifamily loan delinquency rates remained near record lows in the third quarter extending a long run of declines in the securitized market, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

The availability of mortgage credit jumped in November from the previous month as jumbo activity and refinancing in the government market increased, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Loan limits for most mortgages Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac buy will exceed $500,000 for the first time ever next year, and the maximum for most high-cost areas will be $765,000.

From product-specific variations in refinancing rates to pockets of depreciation in an otherwise healthy market, here are some details in housing-related data that highlight important underlying trends in the mortgage business.

Private mortgage insurance now has almost matched the government's Federal Housing Administration program in market share, having gained approximately eight percentage points in the past five years, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods found.

For the private-label mortgage-backed securities market to grow, regulators need to focus on collateral management in addition to changes to data disclosure rules.

The former head of the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight explains why he thinks the mortgage industry is closer than ever to having a truly paperless process, and weighs in on GSE reform.