Secondary markets

Mortgage purchases by Freddie Mac fell nearly 13% in July compared to June but the share of refinancings remained steady at 69%.

There are concerns the majority approach could eventually lead to the return of risky piggy-back and no downpayment lending that was prevalent before the subprime meltdown.

Fitch Ratings expects new nonresidential construction activity will remain positive for the remainder of this year and heading into 2014.

Federal regulators have agreed to exempt all single-family loans that meet the underwriting standards of the qualified mortgage rule from the 5% risk retention requirements mandated by a newly proposed qualified mortgage rule.

The Federal Home Loan Bank of Topeka has dropped its activity-based stock purchase requirement when members sell their mortgages to the FHLB.

The New York City Housing Development Corp. intends to sell $655 million of capital fund grant program revenue bonds in two series on Wednesday.

Texas A&M University System is preparing to issue $353 million of taxable and tax-exempt revenue bonds for the most costly college stadium renovation in the nation.

Standard & Poor’s probably will demand greater protections for investors when mortgage bonds are backed by loans to homeowners in jurisdictions that use eminent domain to seize debt to help borrowers.

More than half of mortgage stocks traded at minor discounts not higher than 1.5% on Monday.

Property analytics experts now offer neighbor valuations for 12,939 ZIP codes compared to the prior amount of 11,408.

When it comes to the securitized commercial mortgage market there were already worries about credit standards slipping before rates started to rise.

Fed policy makers have pledged to maintain $85 billion in monthly buying until the job market improves substantially.

A builder and some mortgage insurers were among the companies on this publication’s Mortgage Industry Equity Composite that fared well Thursday.

Moody's Investors Service has revised the outlook for CommonWealth REIT's Baa3 senior unsecured rating to negative from stable.

Ginnie Mae MBS issuance totaled $39.1 billion in July, down 4.6% from the prior month.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency is opposed to the idea of local or state governments using eminent domain to restructure mortgage loans, especially loans involving the GSEs.

Efforts to overhaul the mortgage finance system are gaining momentum, but key logistical hurdles remain as lawmakers prepare to return from the August recess.

A panel including former bank regulator Sheila Bair cautioned that the Federal Reserve must take a clear and steady direction out of its "experimental" monetary policies so as not to further harm the economy.