Among the goals in that category are instructions for the GSEs to finalize their rep and warranty frameworks (a process started late last year), encourage more participation from smaller lenders, and continue watching for other hurdles to credit access.
Read More »Report Predicts Big Year for Housing in 2015 Based on Recent Government Actions
In a report released Monday morning, Fitch outlined five big events—all of which have taken place in the past few months—that, taken together, "could have a relatively meaningful impact on home buyer psychology, pent-up demand and housing trends in 2015 and beyond," the company says.
Read More »Fannie Mae Economist Says Latest Job Data Might Not Be Good News For Housing
The U.S. labor market reported a strong gain of 252,000 jobs on the payrolls for December in data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) on Friday. December's job gain was close to 2014's average monthly increase and 2014 was the best year of job growth in the U.S. since 1999. According to Fannie Mae Chief Economist Doug Duncan, the underlying data may not be so encouraging for the housing market, however.
Read More »Survey: Doubts About Housing Persist Despite Growing Economic Confidence
While optimism—likely spurred by continuing job growth—is on the rise, the number of Americans whose household income has fallen off significantly over the last year picked up (hitting 14 percent), and a declining share expect their personal financial situation will improve in 2015.
Read More »Fannie Mae CEO Warns Against Housing Finance Reform
Speaking as a guest presenter at the Rotary Club of Atlanta on Monday, Fannie Mae President and CEO Timothy Mayopoulos warned against any type of reform where housing finance is concerned, telling the audience that “the (current) system works,” according to a report from the Atlanta Business Chronicle.
Read More »Fannie Mae’s Mortgage Portfolio Plummets; Book of Business Ticks Upward
Fannie Mae's gross mortgage portfolio took a huge downward turn in November, while the mortgage giant's Book of Business inched upward, according to Fannie Mae's November 2014 Monthly Summary released earlier this week. The balance of the gross mortgage portfolio dropped from $4.36 billion in October down to $4.24 billion in November, marking the 52nd time in the last 53 months Fannie Mae's portfolio declined month-over-month.
Read More »Online Petition to End Conservatorship of GSEs Posted on White House Web Site
An online petition calling for the end of the Federal Housing Finance Agency's conservatorship of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac has been posted to the White House's "We the People" Web page.
Read More »Former Fannie Mae Exec Joins Redwood Trust
Real estate investment trust Redwood Trust, Inc., announced the addition of former Fannie Mae executive Karen R. Pallotta to the company's board of directors.
Read More »FHFA Vows to Protect First-Lien Status of GSE-Backed Mortgages
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) has released a statement warning organizations that label mortgage loans with "super-priority lien" status that such loans will not push loans backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac into the secondary position. The warning was aimed mainly at energy retrofit financing programs and homeowners associations that attach super-priority lien status to mortgages because of the risk they pose to taxpayers while Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are under conservatorship.
Read More »Foreclosure Completions, Starts on GSE Loans Continue Steady Decline
Both foreclosure completions and foreclosure starts on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans continued their steady decline in the third quarter, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA)'s Q3 Foreclosure Prevention Report released Monday. The GSEs completed 39,100 foreclosures in Q3, down 9 percent from the 43,000 that were completed in Q2, according to the report.
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