Government

Another acquisition for PSM Holdings, Inc. is in the works, with the company├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós announcement that it has established a letter of intent to purchase Iowa Mortgage Professionals, Inc. This is the third such move by PSMH.

Delivering highly anticipated remarks in Wyoming Thursday, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke promised no new stimulus measures, opting instead to offer an optimistic view of fundamental strength of the economy, coupled with a blistering critique of fiscal management by policymakers and an overview of the housing sector. In response to his speech, Treasury bonds rose, forcing a downward shift in yields and likely mortgage rates for next week, following continuing fiscal distress.

On Wednesday the New York Times broke a story suggesting that Obama administration officials are floating proposals to inject the ailing housing industry with needed relief, encourage the markets, and potentially energize the broader economy. If it passed with recommendations from a Columbia Business School proposal, the refinance plan could potentially infuse the economy with $118 billion in savings and add to historic highs for mortgage applications.

Home prices for the second quarter dropped 0.6 percent beneath figures reported during the first quarter this year, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which released a price index for seasonally adjusted home purchases Thursday. Quarterly declines in prices amounted to 5.9 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis. Seasonally adjusted prices plunged by 5.9 percent over the past year, according to the FHFA, with a quarterly decline occurring despite an uptick in seasonally adjusted house prices month-over-month.

Mortgage giant Freddie Mac recently upgraded a number of quality control guidelines for financial institutions doing business with it. New features for lenders and servicers include the ability to submit mortgage files over electronic media, with a number of other provisions aimed at collecting mortgage insurance coverage. The GSE follows in the footsteps of Fannie Mae, which also recently amended the guidelines it approves for insurers, servicers, and lenders.

In welcome news for market watchers everywhere, FDIC-insured banks and savings institutions opened their books to reveal a $28.8-billion in aggregate profits over the second quarter, according to the federal agency.

Despite all-time highs for home affordability, homebuilders are seeing less demand for home construction and more for multifamily rentals, with the Federal Housing Administration recently releasing a report that signals new highs for rental properties across the country. The FHA said that it has endorsed some $10.5 billion in multifamily rental housing loans ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┼ô seven times the number of loans made three years ago and the only second time that the FHA has lent so much.

After threatening to shut down mortgage insurance operations at The PMI Group, Inc., the Arizona Department of Insurance made good by issuing an order that forced the company to cease writing new mortgage policies, effective Friday. PMI Mortgage Insurance Co., the division responsible for mortgage insurance, shut down two of its units in response. A June 30 financial statement signaling a $329-million net loss, coupled with $574 million in incurred losses, alerted the department to approximately $320 million in policy holder deficits.

To stave off the financial crisis, the Fed supplied the biggest Wall Street firms with $1.2 trillion in funds, an amount that overshadows the more public transfer of funds from TARP, Bloomberg News reported.

Four banks walked the line to failure over the weekend, raising the bank collapse figure to 68 on the heels of increased public scrutiny by lawmakers over bank failures. Illinois-based First Choice Bank, Georgia-based First Southern National Bank, Florida-based Lydian Private Bank, and Pennsylvania-based Public Savings Bank all left the table, leaving the FDIC to foot the whopping $374.8-million bill. The FDIC found itself playing the familiar role of receiver in all four loss-share transactions by other banks.