Secondary markets

Gladstone Commercial Corp., McLean, Va., has hired Gladstone Securities LLC to be its non-exclusive agent to assist in arranging mortgage financing for its properties.

Commercial real estate loan collateralized debt obligation delinquencies fell in May to 12.7% from 13.2% in April, according to a Fitch report

Regulators, creditors, accountants and shareholders all have increased focus on this asset. Basel III implementation may further exacerbate this.

Standard and Poor’s finds some legislative and other uncertainties in the municipal housing sector, but the company expects ratings in it to remain fairly stable through at least the next 12 months.

Investors had a strong negative reaction to Newcastle Investment Corp. in the wake of the real estate investment trust’s upsizing and pricing of its public offering of 35 million shares of its common stock.

he percentage of commercial mortgage-backed securities loans paying off on their balloon date based on their balance in May slipped to 59.5% from 64.6% in April.

Deepak Narula rose to fame as manager of the best-performing hedge fund last year by navigating the government’s stimulus efforts. He’s having a harder time as the Federal Reserve moves closer to an exit.

The Structured Finance IndustryGroup has hired Falcon Capital Advisors as well as a consultancy run by Kristi Leo to help it attract new members and pursue its legislative agenda.

The unadjusted Refinance Index was up 5% while the seasonally adjusted Purchase index also increased 5%.

Fannie Mae is promoting Kimberly Johnson to be the mortgage giant’s deputy chief risk officer—replacing Mark Shaw who is retiring.

There were 12 of 17 Mortgage Industry Equity Composite stocks whose closing price declined more than one percentage point on Tuesday.

The massive waves of 2005-2007 residential mortgage-backed securities downgrades have finally calmed down a bit, thanks largely to housing improvement.

CU/America Financial Services has signed with Scottsdale, Ariz.-based CU Realty Services to offer the company’s real estate program to credit unions throughout Illinois.

Standard and Poor’s is warning that new conduit commercial mortgage-backed securities deals, particularly those issued in the second quarter, are riskier compared with other recent vintage transactions.

The fees Fannie and Freddie charge to cover credit risk on mortgages have been surging. Large segments of the market may soon be fair game for securitization without federal backing.

Despite home price increases taking place in many real estate markets this year, potential sellers are still reluctant to list their properties for sale, therefore creating tight inventories for prospective buyers.

The American Bankers Association and Independent Community Bankers of America are urging the GSE regulator to block Freddie Mac from imposing a $7,500 annual fee on community banks that are low volume seller/services.

Kelly Marsh seeks to educate Realtors, sellers and buyers of the advantages these loans have, especially for her home market.

Lenders issued and sold $41 billion in Ginnie MBS to investors in May, up from $40 billion in April.

McGraw Hill Financial Inc. and its Standard & Poor’s unit won a bid to move to federal court in New York lawsuits filed by 14 states and the District of Columbia accusing the companies of inflating mortgage-backed securities ratings.