Secondary markets

Two Harbors' first residential mortgage securitization of the year doesn't exactly break any new ground.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have boosted risk-sharing transactions in the past year by more than fourfold, according to Fitch Ratings.

The unpaid principal balance of delinquent commercial mortgage-backed securities delinquencies fell by 23% as of Dec. 31 compared with the same day one year prior in 2013, according to Fitch Ratings.

Capital markets hold the key to the future for the consolidating Wall Street landlords, but the path through is downright bloody.

CMBS issuance is set to resume as industry players returned to their desks following last week's annual industry shindig hosted by the Commercial Real Estate Finance Council in Miami.

Fears that lower Federal Housing Administration premiums will negatively affect private mortgage insurance firms are overblown. If anything, the plan should be a modest positive for the overall housing market.

Standard & Poor's is close to a settlement of about $1 billion with the U.S. for allegedly misleading investors about its ratings of mortgage-backed securities before the subprime crisis.

Freddie Mac in the next month plans to approve three more lenders, including one bank, to make multifamily loans between $1 million and $5 million for GSE purchase and securitization, according to an official. Banks were not initially courted.

Freddie Mac's first three risk-sharing transactions of 2015 are all insurance policies.

The U.S. Supreme Court dealt a blow to Royal Bank of Scotland Group and Nomura Holdings Inc., refusing to derail federal government lawsuits that seek billions of dollars over the sale of risky mortgage-backed securities.

The Multifamily Lenders Council, a trade group representing companies that originate and service Federal Housing Administration-insured multifamily mortgages, states President Obama isn't doing enough to assist affordable rental housing.

With commercial real estate lenders continuing to slowly relax their underwriting standards, CMBS investors can't overlook the corresponding rise in risk.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. reached a preliminary settlement to pay $500 million to resolve a lawsuit over $17.6 billion of faulty mortgage-backed securities issued by Bear Stearns.

FirstKey Mortgage, an entity linked to Cerberus Capital Management, is planning a securitization of reperforming residential mortgages, according to Fitch Ratings.

The Senate approved legislation to reauthorize the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act, sending it to President Obama's desk after a months-long battle.

The price of loans securing commercial mortgage-backed securities increased in November, according to DebtX.

Mortgage credit availability loosened in December, according to a report from the Mortgage Bankers Association.

After the release of President Obama's plan to make housing more affordable by cutting mortgage-insurance premiums charged by a federal agency, bond investors responded by pushing up interest rates on the same loans.

Private mortgage insurance stocks tumbled Wednesday amid news that President Obama is expected to announce cuts to the Federal Housing Administration's annual premiums.

President Obama is expected to announce a half-percentage-point reduction in the Federal Housing Administration's annual premium during a housing policy speech Thursday in Phoenix.