The Lede

Wall Street Journal, May 12, 2016--Light, Joe Private shareholders of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have waged an intense lobbying campaign in an effort to drum up support for releasing the companies from government control and in the process restore some value to their shares.

Barron's May 14, 2016--Stone, Amey Mortgage real estate investment trusts have enjoyed a stunning three-month run for an obscure, underfollowed corner of finance. They are up 22 percent since mid-February, buoyed by stronger credit markets, a Federal Reserve that seems likely to keep rates lower for longer and a nod from bond king Jeffrey Gundlach of DoubleLine Capital at a recent hedge fund conference.

New York Times, May 13, 2016--Goldstein, Matthew; Stevenson, Alexandra Financial regulators in New York are scrutinizing a revival in seller-financed deals for marketing inexpensive homes to lower-income people who cannot get a mortgage.

Boston Glone, May 14, 2016--Logan, Tim The epic surge in housing construction that is reshaping Boston and some of its immediate neighbors is largely bypassing many suburbs and the smaller cities that ring the region.

National Mortgage Professional, May 13, 2016--Hall, Phil New England's commercial real estate market is starting to resemble the pre-bubble environment of years passed, said President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston Eric Rosengren.

Market Watch, May 13, 2016--Adinolfi, Joseph Over the past week, several Federal Reserve officials have tried to tell investors they should still expect the central bank to raise interest rates twice this year. But markets clearly aren't heeding the warning.

National Real Estate Investor, May 13, 2016-Carr, Robert  Though demand for office space continues to improve, industry experts say it's still too early to expect a surge in speculative construction in the sector. Office developers are watching constructions costs rise and sensing some lingering caution from corporate executive teams, leaving them reluctant to build on a speculative basis.

USA Today, May 13, 2016--Engle, Jeremy David Stevens, a former federal housing official who now leads the trade group, the Mortgage Bankers Association, said household formations will increase to about 1.6 million a year between 2015 and 2024, compared with the increase of 1.2 million a year between 2010 and 2014.

UExpress, May 13, 2016--Sichelman, Lew According to 2014 estimates by the Congressional Joint Committee on Taxation, the mortgage interest deduction accounted for $72.4 billion in savings for taxpayers. About 34.5 million taxpayers claimed the popular write-off.

Wall Street Journal, May 13, 2016--Morath, Eric; Kapner, Suzanne Consumers boosted spending in April to the highest levels in more than a year, accelerating their turn toward online shopping and widening the divide between in-store retailers and Internet outlets pitching lower prices and convenience.

National Mortgage News, May 13, 2016--Passy, Jacob A subsidiary of Goldman Sachs was the winner for all four pools in Fannie Mae's latest nonperforming loan sale.

HousingWire, May 13, 2016--Lane, Ben The Department of Justice announced Friday that M&T Bank will pay $64 million for originating loans that did not meet Federal Housing Administration underwriting standards.

HousingWire, May 13, 2016--Lane, Ben Ending a legal quagmire that stretched back to 2011, investors are finally set to receive their money from an $8.5 billion settlement involving Bank of America, mortgages originated by its Countrywide unit, and the Bank of New York Mellon, which acted as the trustee for the mortgage bond investors.

Huffington Post, May 13, 2016--Grim, Ryan; Blumenthal, Paul Old Washington hands involved say that nothing they've seen before in politics has prepared them for the mercenary campaigns the hedge funds are now waging.