Wall Street Journal, May 24, 2016–Light, Joe
Eight years after the financial crisis, mortgage-finance companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are headed down the road to another bailout, but not for the usual reason.
Category: Top National News
Chinese Investors Pour Money Into U.S. Property
Wall Street Journal, May 25, 2016–Grant, Peter
Commercial property sales have slowed in the U.S. this year-but Chinese investors are continuing to plow money into the market.
Bank of America Wins Reversal of $1.27 Billion Penalty in U.S. Mortgage Case
Associated Press, May 23, 2016
The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York said the proof at trial was insufficient under federal fraud statutes to establish liability in connection with the “Hustle” mortgage program, which was run at the former Countrywide Financial.
Mortgages: The Fed Wants To Raise Rates, Blah, Blah, Blah
OurBroker.com, May 23, 2016–Miller, Peter G.
The Fed’s hint last week that it may again raise mortgage rates sent an instant shudder throughout the mortgage marketplace. We’ve seen this show before.
Deutsche Bank Post-Crisis Mortgage Positions Probed by SEC
Bloomberg, May 23, 2016–Scully, Matt
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating whether Deutsche Bank AG inflated the value of securities in its mortgage-bond trading business and masked losses around 2013.
Mortgage Rates Are Low, So Why Isn’t Homeownership More Affordable? The Conundrum of Cheap Money
Huffington Post, May 23, 2016–Woellert, Lorraine
It’s never been cheaper to borrow money, and that includes home loans. Mortgage rates have been falling all year and are flirting with historic lows. That’s made homeownership more affordable for some people, but not nearly as much as you’d think.
Mortgage Loan Numbers Drop Among Low Credit Score Applicants
24/7 Wall Street, May 23, 2016–Ausick, Paul
In 2005, at the peak of mortgage loan applications, 11.7 million Americans applied for home-purchase mortgages. That number fell to a low of 3.6 million applications in 2011 before rising to 4.6 million in 2014, the last year for which data are available.
Post-TRID, More Homebuyers Reading Their Mortgage Disclosures
National Mortgage News, May 23, 2016–Passy, Jacob
It appears more homebuyers are trying to know before they owe.
SF Fed Chief: More Hikes Coming
National Mortgage Professional, May 23, 2016–Hall, Phil
San Francisco Federal Reserve President and CEO John Williams is looking to a near-future with more interest rate hikes from the nation’s central bank, even if the global economy continues to show evidence of instability and risks.
Banks Must Defend Libor Lawsuit After Judges Warn of Impact
Bloomberg, May 23, 2016–Van Voris, Bob
Sixteen of the world’s largest banks including JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Citigroup Inc. must face antitrust lawsuits accusing them of hurting investors who bought securities tied to Libor by rigging an interest-rate benchmark, a ruling that an appeals court warned could devastate them.