Government

As splintering debt-ceiling negotiations unnerved analysts and ratings agencies, Treasury yields and mortgage rates remained relatively stable over the weekend, reflecting a widespread consensus among investors and market watchers that partisan divisions would soon give way to a grand bargain between policymakers. CNN reported Sunday that House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) refused to agree to a set of conditions at the White House, ending dramatic four-month-long negotiations.

Real estate and relocation servicers provider Realogy Corporation became the latest in a string of companies to file critical commentary with regulatory authorities overseeing the Qualified Residential Mortgage rule, the embattled proposal that industry groups say would crimp housing by forcing homebuyers to front 20 percent in down payments. Realogy joins a host of other critics, including the Coalition for Sensible Housing Policy, 320 members of Congress, and some 44 private organizations.

Signaling that it means business, the newly opened Consumer Financial Protection Bureau undertook its first major stab at the rule-making process by issuing a proposed rule that would shift alternate mortgage origination from the state to federal level nationwide. The rule applies to Regulation D under the Alternative Mortgage Transaction Party Act. If enacted, it would enact a Dodd-Frank provision by allowing state-licensed mortgage originators to make alternative loans even states with laws that prohibit such loans.

Recent news reports show homebuyers flocking to high-end properties to close rates for jumbo loan mortgages, even as Congress wavers on a proposed bill that would cement higher thresholds for federally insured mortgages.

Passing a bill aimed at reforming the agency, House lawmakers showed no sign of stopping in their attempts to reform the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau just one day after it officially opened its doors. On Thursday the lower chamber pushed through H.R. 1315, titled the Consumer Financial Protection Safety and Soundness Improvements Act, which ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┼ô contingent on Senate action and a bicameral reconciliation process ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┼ô would swap the director for a commission and strengthen the Financial Stability Oversight Council.

On Wednesday the Treasury Department released a statement announcing that the Small Business Lending Fund had provided Bank of Houston Holdings, Inc. with a $23.9 million capital infusion, with the hope that it will signal a boost in lending to small businesses.

With recent reports signaling a throwback for public officials involved in debt-ceiling negotiations, housing analysts and market watchers worry about the possible fallout for government-backed mortgages in a default scenario come August. If the federal government defaults on its debt, analysts say, still-brittle mortgage markets will splinter as mortgage rates follow spikes in Treasury yields. Concerns continue to grow after a series of breakdowns between Congress and the White House.

Despite today├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós report in the Wall Street Journal of continued layoffs in multiple professional sectors, not everyone is fearing for their job. Especially Michael D. Greenwood of PNC Mortgage who has just been promoted to senior executive of the company├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós Miamisburg, Ohio branch of operations.

Following months of anticipation among critics and admirers alike, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau formally opened its doors Thursday, taking over rule-writing and enforcement abilities for 18 consumer financial laws, preparing a host of new regulators, and assuming an array of powers provided by the Dodd-Frank Act. The launch notwithstanding, a tied-up confirmation process, scale-up difficulties, and stiff political opposition from the past year hold the CFPB back, making some wonder how the bureau will function.

On Tuesday the Government Accountability Office added to fears over rising mortgage rates by releasing a new report that casts concern on the role risk retention will play in the markets. A provision in the Dodd-Frank Act obligates the GAO to perform an economic impact analysis, making the report a timely one since it arrives on the heels of outcry from trade and industry associations. It added that mortgage-related provisions in Dodd-Frank would prescribe "tradeoffs" between additional consumer financial protection and a needed expansion in credit supply.