The Lede

Housing Wire, Feb. 22, 2016--Stevens, David Congress and the president need to recognize that unfinished work from the Great Recession looms over our housing system, MBA President and CEO David Stevens, CMB argues in this Op-Ed: "The reality is that Congress will need to establish the contours of the new system and create the pathway out of conservatorship."

Bisnow, Feb. 22, 2016--Drake, Martin If a slowdown is underway, multifamily didn't get the memo. Freddie Mac's employment hit a 10-year high in 2015 with 400 new hires to bring the staff to 5,416--and most of those went to work on multifamily deals.

MarketWatch, Feb. 22, 2016--Riquier, Andrea Shadows from the Great Recession linger, the New York Fed said. Mortgage debt outstanding nearly doubled between 2000 and 2006, but rose only about one percent since 2012.

Wall Street Journal, Feb. 22, 2016--Light, Joe Bank of America is rolling out a new mortgage product that would allow borrowers to make down payments of as little as three percent in a move that would represent an end run around a government agency that punished the bank for making errors on similar loans.

CNBC, Feb. 22, 2016--Bove, Richard Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis President Neel Kashkari recently suggested that large U.S. banks needed to be broken up. Analysts Bove says this would benefit the small banks that dominate Kashkari's Ninth District Federal Reserve Bank.

Reuters, Feb. 22, 2016 Goldman Sachs cut the upper end of its estimate of legal costs it may face beyond what it has set aside by more than half to $2 billion. Goldman in early January agreed to pay over $5 billion to settle claims it misled mortgage bond investors during the financial crisis.

Wall Street Journal, Feb. 23, 2016--McConnon, Aili A new generation of technology-focused startups are charging into real-estate brokerage, rolling out an array of mobile services in hopes of grabbing a piece of the red-hot U.S. apartment market.