Investments

Under the Federal Housing Finance Agency's plan, small Home Loan banks would face a new housing benchmark and a volume threshold for meeting the goals would be eliminated.

Rising interest rates and the continued slowdown in mortgage originations prompted Ellie Mae to cut its revenue forecast for the full year by at least $18 million.

All four national title insurance underwriters saw an increase in third-quarter net earnings compared with one year prior even as new orders declined because mortgage origination volume fell this year.

Mortgage rates increased slightly across the board, even as the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell nearly 1,000 points over the past few days, according to Freddie Mac.

Builder M/I Homes set third-quarter records in four areas and recorded consistent levels of mortgages held for sale in its most recent earnings results.

Despite an overall weak mortgage originations market, Flagstar Bancorp's third-quarter earnings grew 20%, due in large part to its ongoing efforts to diversify operations.

New York developer Silverstein Properties Inc. built a $4 billion pipeline of real estate deals just weeks after starting. None of the money was for buildings it will own.

The mortgages being reinsured are more seasoned than most other deals rated by Morningstar, which helps offset the risk of lower initial weighed average LTV.

MGIC Investment Corp.'s quarterly earnings were again driven by better-than-expected loss development, and those favorable results should be seen in the other private mortgage insurers' results as well, an industry analyst said.

A notable drop in home equity lending at Bank of America during the third quarter contributed to an overall decline in new single-family loans produced by the company.