Daily Dose

Residential mREITs have been forced to find alternatives in order to maintain target dividends, due to the current environment of margin compression with high-yielding bonds replaced with lower-yielding securities while the cost of funding has stayed the same, according to KBRA. The Agency believes that mREITs have two choices in the situation—increasing leverage or diversification.

The Federal Reserve, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) have made available their annual list of non-metro areas where revitalization or stabilization activities will receive consideration as community development under the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA).

FHFA, Freddie Mac's conservator, stated in its 2014 Report to Congress released in June that "FHFA's expectation is that the sale of seriously delinquent loans through non-performing loan sales will result in more favorable outcomes for borrowers, while also reducing losses to the Enterprises, and, therefore, to taxpayers."

The CSP is a technology and operational platform that is being developed by CSS, the companies said. This new development is a new venture of both Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. CSP will perform many of the core back office operations for the Single Security, as well as most of the Enterprises' current securitization functions for single-family mortgages, on behalf of the Enterprises.

The final rule is the result of recommendations of a 2010 report from the Government Accountability Office; stakeholders and HUD program participants who had asked for clarification, technical assistance, better compliance, and more meaningful outcomes; and feedback from significant public input and comments received during the final rule's development.

The Total MCAI, which was benchmarked to 100 in March 2012, declined by 0.5 percent in June down to 122. The Conventional MCAI experienced the greatest decline in June (by 1.0 percent since May) out of the four component indices of the Total MCAI.

"Since the passage of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010, there has been much discussion by members of Congress, regulators, and academic experts related to the designation and regulatory standards for bank holding company SIFIs," the Committee wrote in a memorandum about Wednesday's hearing.

The increasing number of first-time homebuyers is another factor driving up the demand for housing, according to Realtor.com. Many of those first-time buyers are millennials who have been sidelined by the challenging market conditions.

Non-partisan seniors advocacy group 60 Plus Association, Inc., and several other groups and individuals have filed amicus briefs in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on behalf of Perry Capital, the plaintiffs in a dismissed lawsuit against the government regarding the sweeping of GSE profits into Treasury.

Optimism among consumers about the housing market has reached new survey highs and strong job and income growth are making consumers appear more favorable in the selling market, indicating a possible increase in the existing home supply.