Mortgages

Lenders One, the largest mortgage cooperative in the U.S., is calling for the Federal Housing Finance Agency to end volume discounts on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's guarantee fees.

WASHINGTON—Since March 2008, the housing market has depended on government-backed loans with a maximum limit of up to $729,750 in high-cost areas. But all that is about to end with Congress resigned to allowing the maximum limit to drop back to $625,500 on Oct. 1.

More Americans are using remote work arrangements, such as working from a home office these days, while survey data shows support either arguments—that these arrangements are more productive or they are productivity killers.

Home prices rose almost 1% in July following a 1.2% increase in June, according to the new Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller house price index.

The nation's inventory of “shadow” homes fell to 1.6 million units in July, a 16% decline from six months ago, according to new figures released by CoreLogic, Santa Ana, Calif.

Freddie Mac's restrictive repurchase review policy on defaulted loans may prevent the GSE from recouping "billions of dollars" in losses from lenders, according to a new investigative report from the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency as early as this week may release a new discussion paper on restructuring servicing compensation for GSE loans while seeking a new round of public comments on proposed changes.

In the second quarter of 2011, the volume of outstanding commercial and multifamily mortgage debt increased by 0.1% marking the first quarterly increase since the third quarter of 2009, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

The hiring situation in the mortgage business has been dismal. Total employment has fallen from a high of more than 500,000 at the top of the market to less than half of that currently.

For the last two years, commercial real estate price indices have been fluctuating and it does not appear any recovery is going to happen soon, Moody's said in its weekly credit outlook report.

New homes sold at an annualized rate of just 295,000 units in August, the worst reading in six months, according to new government figures released Monday morning.

Ranieri Real Estate Partners and private equity funds affiliated with WL Ross & Co. have agreed to acquire Deutsche Bank Berkshire Mortgage today.

HP Enterprise Services, Palo Alto, California, has signed a five-year extension of its agreement with Loan Value Group LLC, Rumson, N.J.

Certain types of automation are increasingly central to most branching strategies these days. This is true not only in terms of managing branches within the company, but also in terms of interactions with external business partners that are part of the loan-making process.

The idea for this series came to me several months ago and since then, it seems as if everywhere I turn, the theme of "serving," "making a difference" or "contribution" has shown up in my life. Books, blogs, magazines, speakers at conferences…my reticular activator has been on alert.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau plans to redesign the HUD-1 settlement sheet after it completes a final round of public comments on the good faith estimate form next month, according to agency assistant director Patricia McCoy.

Citigroup Inc.'s Vikram Pandit said Friday it may be time for the U.S. to follow other nation's lead and start approaching consumer lending as a corporate finance issue.

Freddie Mac purchased $28 billion of mortgages from its seller/servicers in August, a 33% spike from the prior month, and a clear sign that originations are picking up in the primary market.

Nationstar Mortgage, Lewisville, Texas, is continuing talks to buy Bank of America's correspondent lending division, or at least parts of it, according to industry advisors who claim to have knowledge of the situation.

Back in 2006, Fannie Mae officials knew that attorneys representing the GSE were filing false documents in foreclosure proceedings but did nothing about it, according a new inspector general report.