Government

Mortgage rates shifted only slightly this week amid mixed reports on the state of the housing market, according to the Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS) issued by Freddie Mac on Thursday. Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac’s VP and chief economist, pointed to numbers released by the National Association of Realtors earlier this week, which showed that sales of existing homes have risen for two consecutive months.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac modified nearly 37,000 home loans during the first quarter of 2009, according to the GSEs’ regulator, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA). The Q1 figure represents a 57 percent increase over the fourth quarter of 2008 and more than double the number of modifications made in the first quarter of last year.

Government stimulus funding totaling $5 trillion has unintentionally introduced new opportunities for fraud and corruption worldwide, according to the latest edition of the Kroll Global Fraud Report. Kroll is a risk consulting firm, headquartered in New York City, with more than 65 offices throughout the United States and around the globe.

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) announced Monday that it has lowered its forecast of mortgage originations in 2009 to $2.03 trillion, a drop of over $700 billion from its March forecast. The association explained that $84 billion of the drop is due to lower purchase originations and the other $616 billion-plus is due to fewer rate and term refinancings and very low volumes within the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP).

National Home Auction Corporation (NHA), a now-defunct real estate company specializing in the marketing and auction-style sale of lender foreclosed properties, filed a lawsuit against Real Estate Disposition Corporation (REDC) in an Orange County Superior Court on Friday.

Former Fannie Mae CEO Herbert M. Allison, Jr. was confirmed by the United States Senate on Friday to serve as the Department of the Treasury’s assistant secretary for Financial Stability. In this position, he is responsible for developing and coordinating the Treasury’s policies on legislative and regulatory issues aimed at restoring the nation’s financial system.

The New York Federal Reserve Bank purchased $20.29 billion in mortgage-backed securities (MBS) from government agencies this week. The central bank has committed to buy up $1.25 trillion in mortgage securities this year.

Mortgage interest rates across the board dropped back down this week, following three straight weeks of increases for long-term, fixed-rate home loan products. Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac’s VP and chief economist, explained that the upward trend was reversed by reports of low, benign inflation figures.

President Obama signed into law the Helping Families Save Their Homes Act on May 20, 2009. Among other things, the law amends the Truth in Lending Act (TILA), instituting a requirement that borrowers be notified when their mortgage debt has been sold, transferred, or assigned to a new creditor.

President Obama’s broad proposal for financial regulatory reform calls for the creation of a new regulatory body, the Consumer Financial Protection Agency. The federal supervisor would have far-reaching oversight and enforcement authorities over the entire residential mortgage financing industry.