Category: Top National News

Wall Street Journal, Mar. 14, 2018–AnnaMaria Andriotis, Lalita Clozel (subscription)Lawmakers last week proposed adding a provision to a bank-deregulation bill that would require mortgage-finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to consider credit scores beyond Fair Isaac Corp.’s FICO score for determining a mortgage applicant’s creditworthiness. Fannie and Freddie backed nearly half of all U.S. mortgage dollars originated in 2017, according to Inside Mortgage Finance.

DS News, Mar. 13, 2018–David WhartonAccording to New View Advisors, a financial services advisory firm, issuers of home-equity conversion mortgage-backed securities sold 129 pools in February, totaling $1.47 billion. That made for the second-highest month on record.

HousingWire, Mar. 13, 2018–Ben LaneAccording to the companies, the majority of the VMG team is set to join Dart Appraisal, and the combined company plans to maintain an office location in the Atlanta area. Michael Dresden, president of Dart Appraisal, said that the deal will allow Dart to offer more services to more clients.

Mortgage Daily, Mar. 13, 2018The proposed loan sale is for 9,400 Fannie Mae loans with a collective unpaid principal balance of $1.97 billion.

Wall Street Journal, Mar. 9, 2018–Liz Hoffman, Joann S. Lublin (subscription)Lloyd Blankfein is preparing to step down as Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s chief executive as soon as the end of the year, capping a more than 12-year run that has made him one of the longest-serving bosses on Wall Street.

National Mortgage News, Mar. 9, 2018–Brian Collins (subscription)Nondepository lenders and mortgage brokers cut 3,900 jobs in January, bringing total employment to an estimated 337,200, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. The estimates for December employment were also revised down by 400 jobs.

National Mortgage News, Mar. 9, 2018–Elina Tarkazikis (subscription)The Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corp. reported gains in new business volume, but also realized a big jump in 90-day delinquencies.

HousingWire, Mar, 9, 2018–Tom MillonFor years, fans of non-QM loans have been claiming that this year is the year the market will take off. It’s happening once again this year, and it’s difficult to separate the reality from the hype.

Business Insider, Mar. 11, 2018–Mark FlemingThe author, chief economist with First American Financial Corp., says healthy economic growth and strong labo market, combined with increased risk of inflation and higher interest rates, could lead to reduced home-buying power.

Reuters, Mar. 9, 2018–Lucia MutikaniThe U.S. economy added the biggest number of jobs in more than 1-1/2 years in February, but a slowdown in wage growth pointed to only a gradual increase in inflation this year.