HousingWire

NY Mortgage Trust issues stock to buy Fannie, Freddie bonds

Thu, 24 May 2012 22:00:12 +0000

New York Mortgage Trust is offering four million shares of common stock as part of its investment strategy to acquire agency residential mortgage-backed securities.

Fed releases foreclosure review plan for Ally

Thu, 24 May 2012 21:04:10 +0000

The Federal Reserve released a plan between Ally Financial and third party consultant PricewaterhouseCoopers, hired to conduct the independent foreclosure review, on where "high risks" of borrower remediation lie.

U.S. district judge keeps Dallas DA's MERS case alive

Thu, 24 May 2012 18:21:18 +0000

The original lawsuit was filed last September and eventually was reclassified as a class-action suit so neighboring counties could sign onto the action. A judge dismissed five of 12 claims in the case.

Federal RMBS fraud task force reaches out to whistleblowers

Thu, 24 May 2012 17:13:05 +0000

The federal RMBS fraud task force grew the number of its subpoenas to 25. It opened a website for whistleblowers and brought on board a coordinator for all investigative groups, but no action has been taken, yet.

Senate Republicans may be on board with more HARP expansions

Thu, 24 May 2012 15:40:58 +0000

Democrats want to expand HARP yet again, and Senate Republicans showed some support in a hearing Thursday. "I'm open to this. I hope that we'll have a real mark-up on this bill," said Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn.

Another billion-dollar MBS lawsuit targets big banks

Thu, 24 May 2012 15:10:17 +0000

RMBS investors hit Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan and other big banks with a $1.8 bilion RMBS lawsuit in a New York courtroom.

FDIC-insured institutions on the mend, report says

Thu, 24 May 2012 14:54:14 +0000

This is the 11th consecutive quarter that earnings have registered a year-over-year increase. However, loan balances declined by $56.3 billion, or 0.8%, after three consecutive quarterly increases.

MBA: Mortgage originations will outpace 2011

Thu, 24 May 2012 14:48:56 +0000

Because of increased refinance applications and originations, the Mortgage Bankers Association rose its mortgage origination forecast for 2012 by $188 million to $1.28 trillion.

Record low mortgage rates hold steady

Thu, 24 May 2012 13:56:59 +0000

Fixed-rate mortgages held steady from the prior week’s record lows, helping to drive homebuyer affordability across the nation.

Commercial real estate price recovery slows

Thu, 24 May 2012 13:05:10 +0000

Jobless claims fall by 2,000 to 370,000 filings

Thu, 24 May 2012 12:47:43 +0000

The number of Americans filing for unemployment insurance fell by 2,000 to 370,000 filings for the week ending May 19, the government said Thursday.

Fitch downgrades Bear Stearns securities on CMBS losses

Thu, 24 May 2012 12:32:02 +0000

Losses stemming from a major industrial property and multifamily complex encouraged Fitch Ratings to downgrade 10 classes of securities within the Bear Stearns Commercial Mortgage Securities Trust (2004-PWR4.A).

Multifamily only unit to generate profit for GSEs since 2008

Wed, 23 May 2012 22:45:50 +0000

The only profits Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac generated since entering conservatorship in 2008 came from financing multifamily mortgages, according to a new report.

Zillow: Nearly one-third of mortgaged homes underwater

Wed, 23 May 2012 22:10:58 +0000

The real estate data provider, in its first negative equity report, said 15.7 million, or 31.4%, of homeowners were underwater on their mortgages in the first quarter.

First-quarter housing data shows promise: Freddie Mac

Wed, 23 May 2012 19:31:56 +0000

Initial economic growth estimates for the first quarter hit 2.2%, slower than the fourth quarter o, but still improved from three of the past four quarters, Freddie Mac said in its U.S. Economic and Housing Market Outlook.

Fitch expects more USD-denominated covered bonds

Wed, 23 May 2012 19:14:59 +0000

Foreign banks increased covered bond issuance dramatically last year to roughly $50 billion, said Vanessa Purwin, senior director of U.S. structured finance at Fitch Ratings. Half of the issuance came from Canadian banks, and it could be going up.

Two senators want bank executives banned from Fed boards

Wed, 23 May 2012 16:36:27 +0000

U.S. Sens. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., and Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., proposed a bill that would block employees of banks regulated by the Federal Reserve from serving on any of the Fed's 12 district banks' board of directors.

Markit to price CMBS bonds with Trepp data

Wed, 23 May 2012 16:16:39 +0000

Both companies said investors are demanding more data to more effectively price bonds, especially in the volatile commercial mortgage-backed securities market.

Fed video notifies borrowers of foreclosure review

Wed, 23 May 2012 15:44:05 +0000

The Federal Reserve released a video explaining how borrowers who feel they were financially hurt during the mortgage foreclosure process in 2009 and 2010 can apply for a free, independent foreclosure file review.

FHFA: Home prices rose 0.5% in first quarter

Wed, 23 May 2012 14:37:34 +0000

Home prices across the nation rose a modest 0.5% in the first quarter from a year earlier, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency house price index.

New home sales rise 3% for April

Wed, 23 May 2012 14:36:04 +0000

Housing indicators continued their streak of good news, as the Census Bureau reported a 3.3% increase in new home sales in April from March.