The Lede

National Mortgage Professional, Jan. 12, 2016--Hall, Phil A coalition of financial services trade associations sent a joint letter to the Federal Housing Finance Agency expressing concern over its proposed survey to borrowers that will collect data for the upcoming National Mortgage Database project.

Chicago Tribune, Jan. 12, 2016--MarksJarvis, Gail Worries about rising mortgage rates have been unwarranted. Since the Fed's rate increase, rates on 30-year mortgages have dropped below 4 percent, and many mortgage experts expect them to stay below 4.25 percent this year.

National Mortgage News, Jan. 12, 2016--Finkelstein, Brad In a mostly light-hearted interview on "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert," HUD Secretary Julian Castro defended the agency against Republican calls for its shutdown.

Wall Street Journal, Jan. 12, 2016--Kusisto, Laura After six years of rising apartment rents in U.S. cities, investors from all corners of the real-estate industry are piling into new projects in a bet the boom still has a long way to run.

HousingWire, Jan. 12, 2016--Dalton, John The author, president of the Housing Policy Council, said it remains possible to move from the government-sponsored enterprise model and create a stronger secondary market system.

HousingWire, Jan. 12, 2016--Lane, Ben A trio of California foreclosure rescue companies targeted Hispanics with fake loan modifications, offering the false promise of mortgage relief in exchange for thousands of dollars, HUD alleged Tuesday.

Reuters, Jan. 12, 2016--Mutikani, Lucia U.S. job openings rose in November and employers appeared to have trouble finding qualified workers, a trend that could trigger a pick-up in wage growth this year.

Wall Street Journal, Jan. 12, 2016--Light, Joe A top federal housing regulator on Tuesday shut the door on mortgage investors who had been using a loophole to access low-cost, government-backed financing.

Dallas News, Jan. 12, 2016--Brown, Steve Despite challenges of storefront retailing in the e-commerce age, Dallas-Fort Worth shopping center vacancies are starting out 2016 with the lowest vacancy in 31 years.

Wall Street Journal, Jan. 12, 2016--Light, Joe The Federal Housing Finance Agency said so-called captive insurance companies, which insure the risks of the companies that own them, no longer will be eligible for membership in government-backed federal home loan banks. Mortgage Bankers Association President David Stevens said the rule "removes a vital component of the FHLBank membership which provides liquidity for the real estate finance market."

National Real Estate Investor, Jan. 13, 2016--Mattson-Teig, Beth Banks are wading through the still murky issue of dealing with new Basel III rules related to high volatility commercial real estate loans. we have definitely heard of instances where lending decisions have been impacted by the HVCRE rule," says George Green, a senior vice president at the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Las Vegas Review-Journal, Jan. 12 In an editorial, the paper says Fannie Mae's HomeReady program echoes back to subprime programs that exacerbated the financial crisis of 2008 and should be squelched.

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