Secondary markets

Home purchase applications are at their highest level in almost five years but a level that is still considered weak, according to the Freddie Mac Multi-Indicator Market Index.

The National Association of Realtors is urging policymakers to implement reforms meant to qualify more condominium buyers for Federal Housing Administration loans.

Former Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Co. Chairman and Chief Executive William Lacy Jr. died Sunday from respiratory failure. He was 71.

The first residential mortgage-backed securities class rated by Fitch Ratings post-crisis has paid off, the ratings agency said Monday.

In just a few years, a popular mall with high-end anchor stores and boutique retail tenants can fall into substandard property condition, leaving commercial mortgage bond investors with outsized losses on their exposure to these properties.

The mortgage application forms from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac should make for stronger loans, according to an analyst at Moody's Investors Service.

Many lenders are still reluctant to give mortgages to borrowers with less-than-pristine credit, yet such loans are far more likely than prime jumbo loans to be bundled into collateral bonds. Sreeni Prabhu of Angel Oak Capital credits banks' behavior and higher interest rates for that reality.

Fitch has taken a slightly dimmer view of Midland Loan Services' ability to workout distressed commercial mortgages.

Equifax and TransUnion have stopped selling traditional credit reports, forcing lenders to buy their new, more expensive "trended" data reports that mortgage investors aren't using yet.

Mortgage rates held steady from the previous week, while still remaining near their all-time record lows, according to Freddie Mac.

"Graceful" may not be the first word that comes to mind when thinking about last year's "Know Before You Owe" disclosure implementation, but one Texas loan officer has a different perspective.

Liquidity is waning in markets for residential mortgages and related securities, and regulators and policymakers need to address this issue before it turns into a crisis, according to Kroll Bond Rating Agency.

Angel Oak Capital's second securitization of nonprime residential mortgages brought its funding costs down significantly, helped by the addition of some new investors.

Home Partners of America is marketing its second securitization of single-family rental properties.

MountainView Servicing Group is the exclusive adviser for the sale of a nonrecourse servicing portfolio of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans.

New specifications for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's common mortgage application unveiled Tuesday add data points and remove obsolete questions, as well as include additional capabilities to promote digital mortgage workflows.

Despite headwinds working against the mortgage insurance industry, this business could be the catalyst for bringing private capital back to the mortgage market.

Daniel Mudd ended a five-year fight with the U.S. government Monday after the former head of Fannie Mae agreed to pay $100,000 to settle allegations that he misled investors about the mortgage backer’s exposure to subprime loans during the run-up to the financial crisis.

The Federal Housing Administration should look to private mortgage insurance companies as a model for how to standardize the claim review process.

The president and founder of a now-defunct Massachusetts-based mortgage company was charged with defrauding Ginnie Mae to the tune of $3 million.