Secondary markets

Wintrust Financial in Rosemont, Ill., reported first-quarter earnings of $39.1 million, up 13% from a year earlier, as loans increased and mortgage revenue rose.

Bank of America had mortgage banking income of $694 million, up from $412 million one year prior, as it originated $14 million of first mortgages in the first quarter.

Mortgage loan application volume dropped 2.3% on a seasonally adjusted basis for the week ended April 10 versus the previous week, the Mortgage Bankers Association said.

U.S. Bancorp posted profit that matched analysts' estimates on gains in mortgage-banking revenue.

Richard Syron, the former chief executive officer of Freddie Mac, settled a Securities and Exchange Commission lawsuit claiming officials understated hundreds of billions of dollars in subprime loans held by the firm and Fannie Mae.

Zillow Group Inc. dropped after giving a 2015 revenue forecast that fell short, blaming delays in regulatory approval for its purchase of rival real estate website Trulia Inc.

More banks are buying mortgage servicing rights now, reversing a post-crisis shift that saw nonbanks dominate the MSR purchasing landscape, according to Fitch Ratings.

Sound Financial Bancorp in Seattle has selected a former Fannie Mae executive to join its board.

FirstKey Lending priced a $241 million securitization of fixed-rate loans it made to landlords for the purchase of single-family homes.

Blackstone Group cemented its position as the world's biggest private-equity investor in real estate with a global buying spree that includes General Electric Co. assets and a California-based shopping-center owner.

Blackstone Group and Wells Fargo are nearing a deal to buy a real estate portfolio from General Electric worth as much as $30 billion, according to a person with knowledge of the matter.

Fannie Mae has released details of its first bulk sale of nonperforming loans, just one day after announcing its plans to go ahead with these transactions.

A group of community lenders is calling on the Treasury Department to establish reserves to capitalize a new cash window in case Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are dismantled.

Nomura Holdings Inc. and Royal Bank of Scotland Group's fight against a billion-dollar government lawsuit over mortgage-backed securities is ending where it started: with the banks blaming the housing crash.

B2R Finance, a company controlled by the Blackstone Group that lends to landlords, has priced its first rental securitization.

The $5.8 billion First Financial said in a press release Wednesday that it will pay $1.9 million in cash for 4Trust Mortgage in a deal that should close next month.

Citigroup priced the senior most tranche of its latest commercial mortgage securitization, Citigroup Commercial Mortgage Trust 2015-GC29, just wide of the previous conduit to be sold, by Wells Fargo.

The partnership with MAX Exchange is designed to enable community banks to sell their loans and get better pricing.

Glenn Costello, a structured finance veteran cited through the years in the pages of the Asset Securitization Report for his sharp analysis, particularly of residential mortgage-backeds, died on April 6.

A subsidiary of Chimera Investment Corp. has just closed a $268.7 million RMBS, according to a private placement memorandum obtained from a market source.