Investments

Annaly Capital Management, the largest real estate investment trust that buys mortgage debt, agreed to purchase Hatteras Financial Corp. for $1.5 billion as the company expands its property business.

Eight years after subprime mortgages all but disappeared, U.S. buyers with bad credit can still own homes.

With U.S. mortgage rates near their lowest level since April and showing signs of falling further, some lenders are preparing for another refinancing wave, an unexpected development after the Federal Reserve began hiking short-term interest rates in December.

Market volatility and new regulatory burdens are thinning the ranks of commercial mortgage lenders that underwrite loans for securitizations. Activity is slowing down as a result, and it is unclear if banks and insurers will fill the void, especially outside the largest cities.

Richard Jennings, who founded and led the mortgage-finance group at Goldman, Sachs & Co. and went on to start his own real estate investment-banking firm, has died. He was 72.

The mortgage servicer said it has received a letter from the Securities and Exchange Commission regarding its fees for handling distressed loans and properties.

The market for U.S. mortgage securities without government backing, virtually frozen since the financial crisis that it helped trigger, may get a boost from some of the biggest bond funds on Wall Street.

Radian Group's Clayton Holdings hired Brian Wornow to be senior managing director of lending services as the mortgage-information unit seeks more business from Wall Street firms.

JPMorgan Chase agreed to pay almost $1 billion to resolve claims by Ambac Financial that it was duped into insuring mortgage bonds backed by shoddy loans, clearing the way for approval of a larger settlement over similar allegations.

The first three transactions of U.S. prime jumbo residential mortgage bonds issued since the financial crisis have been called without any loss, Fitch Ratings reported Monday.