Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are quietly stockpiling mortgages

Monthly purchases of $13 billion in mortgages and MBS may be taking pressure off mortgage rates — and setting the stage for a more attractive public offering. Continue reading

New Fannie, Freddie housing goals may hurt working families

A coalition of groups has warned that the Trump administration’s goals for the mortgage giants will leave up to 177,000 lower income homebuyers looking elsewhere for a loan. Continue reading

Small lenders oppose combining Fannie, Freddie into single entity

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac should continue to operate as separate companies rather than merged into a single entity, and be regulated like utilities with a cap on excessive fees and prohibitions on backing risky loans. That’s the perspective of a… Continue reading

Fannie and Freddie joint venture will offer its technology to others

Common Securitization Solutions (CSS) has rebranded as U.S. Fin Tech and will look to provide technology and business solutions to companies in addition to its owners. Continue reading

Trump looks to South Korea to bring down mortgage rates

Overseas investors hold about $1.36 trillion in U.S. mortgage debt, with Japan, China, Taiwan and Canada accounting for 61 percent of that total. Continue reading

LoanDepot shares slip on $67M Q4 2024 net loss, tepid Q1 outlook

While mortgage originations were up 34 percent from a year ago, to $7.2 billion, company executives said they don’t expect lending to surpass $5.5 billion in Q1 2025. Continue reading

Fed preparing to slow the pace of ‘quantitative tightening’

In addition to anticipating three rate cuts this year, Federal Reserve policymakers are considering whether to taper the pace at which they unwind the central bank’s $7 trillion balance sheet. Continue reading

Investors who fund most home loans get new climate risk tool

Intercontinental Exchange Inc. teams up with DeltaTerra Capital to translate physical climate risk estimates into financial risk assessments factoring in default risk, asset price depreciation and insurance costs. Continue reading

Homebuyer demand up 3rd week in a row as mortgage rates ease

The unusually wide “spread” between 10-year Treasury yields and 30-year fixed-rate mortgages means mortgage rates could have more room to come down. Continue reading

Kiavi says it’s still making loans to real estate investors after layoffs

After unloading $218 million in unrated residential transaction loans in June, CEO Michael Bourque said markets for such deals “are certainly tough right now.” Continue reading