Secondary markets

The agency scrapped a part of its 2014 proposal that would have required Home Loan Bank members to maintain a certain percentage of residential mortgage assets in order to keep their membership. But the agency held fast on a provision that would disqualify captive insurance firms from membership.

A flattening of the yield curve could spell good news for the mortgage market, according to Fitch Ratings.

The Federal Reserve's interest rate increase has commercial real estate debt and equity financing players even more upbeat about their prospects in 2016.

Forget bigger is better. Several private-equity-backed lenders are making loans to small landlords, who represent the biggest chunk of the home-rental market and get less help from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac than they once did.

Freddie Mac has formed a partnership with the Lenders One Mortgage co-operative to give its members benefits on pricing and in other areas.

KeyCorp is hiring Royal Bank of Canada's head of mortgage-bond trading, Joe Vaccaro, and structured products salesman Mike Corsi as the regional lender expands its bond business, according to three people with knowledge of the matter.

Fannie Mae said that those affected by floods across the Midwest may have access to mortgage assistance.

The demand for affordable rental properties has long outstripped the supply, with the gap widening as incomes have stagnated, homeownership rates have fallen and rents have soared in recent years. But now, banks are finding a profitable path to helping ease this severe national shortage.

Two Harbors is marketing its first residential mortgage securitization of the year, according to Fitch Ratings.

As the mortgage industry begins the New Year, National Mortgage News takes a look at the biggest trends and topics that will shape 2016.

John Angelo, who co-founded Angelo, Gordon & Co. and presided 27 years over the New York investment firm's growth to $26 billion in assets under management, has died. He was 74.

Radian Guaranty Inc. is in compliance with the government-sponsored enterprises capital standards after receiving $325 million in cash and securities from parent company Radian Group Inc.

RAIT Financial Trust said it closed on its fifth commercial real estate collateralized loan obligation.

The strong recovery in commercial real estate has enabled borrowers to resolve a lot of problem loans made before the financial crisis, but Fitch Ratings continues to expect no recoveries from "hope notes."

Changes to the tax code approved by Congress may set the stage for increased privatization of real estate investment trusts, according to a new report from Fitch Ratings.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are telling lenders that they are willing to retain loans with defects if they believe the defects are minor and can be fixed. But Freddie is one-upping Fannie by offering to retain such loans without charging lenders a fee.

The price of the loans underlying commercial mortgage-backed securities increased modestly from October to November, according to DebtX.

Mid America Mortgage Inc. has created a scratch-and-dent purchase program to buy loans with TILA-RESPA integrated disclosure rule defects.

The rising number of Chinese buying U.S. homes could be a boon for investors with a stake in residential mortgages.

Arch Mortgage Insurance introduced a new pricing program to better aligns a policy's risk with the amount of the premium. But analysts have expressed concerns about pricing competition.