Secondary markets

Michael Williams, the president and CEO of Fannie Mae, announced plans to step down as soon as a successor can be appointed, according to a company filing issued Tuesday to the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Fixed-rate agency mortgage-backed securities prepayments declined moderately in the latest month, according to Wall Street reports.

Freddie Mac is making it easier for investors to track the performance and credit quality of its multifamily mortgage-backed securities known as 'K Certificates.'

Bank of America is gearing up to sell large chunks of its residential servicing portfolio on a regular basis as it continues to whittle down its presence in the mortgage market, according to servicing advisors and investors who have been briefed on the bank's plans.

Wipro Gallagher Solutions has redefined its fulfillment offerings to meet the demands of loan originators and servicers for middle and top-tier lenders.

In his eight years on the Senate Banking Committee, Rick Santorum was an infrequent presence at committee hearings, even though his office was located on the same floor of the Dirksen office building as the committee's hearing room.

Talks to sell Citigroup's high-risk-borrower lender, OneMain, have been put on hold given the depressed macroeconomic environment, according to several media reports.

Macy's announced last week that it will close some of its stores, while opening and replacing others. But Harris Trifon, Deutsche Bank Securities' global head of commercial real estate debt research, said that in terms of CMBS, "the impact of the announcement will be minimal."

As highlighted by the Association of Foreign Investors in Real Estate in their recently released annual survey, some legislators are proposing to relieve somewhat the burden of the Foreign Investment in Real Property Tax Act in ways could help real estate investment trust stockholders, and there is a potential development this year that could move such a proposal forward.

My inbox was slammed by emails from readers who said "right on" to my commentary that the White House is (wrongly) using mortgage brokers as a whipping boy for the mortgage crisis. But some larger questions still loom: Does this White House even know what a loan broker is? I would guess not.

Current management of the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac conservatorships is contributing to tight mortgage credit conditions, holding back a recovery in the housing market, according to a Federal Reserve Board official.

Fitch's U.S. commercial mortgage-backed securities report shows 2011 ending with another decrease in delinquencies during December, but notes that office delinquencies are continuing on an upward trajectory.

Mortgage bankers funded $26.6 billion of jumbo loans during the third quarter, a handsome 30% gain from the same period a year earlier, according to new survey figures compiled by National Mortgage News and the Quarterly Data Report.

The 30 days-plus delinquency rate for U.S. commercial real estate loans in CMBS climbed seven basis points to 9.58% in December, according to Trepp LLC.

Two more Standard & Poor's executives whose respective roles have included oversight of mortgage-backed securities ratings are leaving the company, possibly as part of an ongoing reorganization, according to a recent Wall Street Journal report.

The Association of Foreign Investors in Real Estate's annual survey shows the majority of respondents plan to increase their investment in U.S. commercial real estate this year, even though the percentage is lower than last year's notable high.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency has directed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to implement a congressionally mandated increase to their loan guarantee fees on April 1.

Publicly traded REIT Two Harbors Investment Corp. is laying the groundwork for a $200 million jumbo MBS deal, partnering with Barclays Bank PLC.

Despite improvements in the job market and low mortgage rates, Federal Reserve officials seem disappointed that their efforts to perk up housing are having little impact, according to minutes of the central bank's December monetary policy committee meeting.

The top 10 sellers of mortgages to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac pay 20 basis points in guarantee fees compared to 30 bps for firms outside the top 100, according to a new report from Keefe Bruyette & Woods.