News

The offering, announced Friday, consists of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgages with more than $2.7 billion in unpaid principal balance, according to MountainView Servicing Group, which is acting as advisor on the sale. Bids are due December 18.

The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan survey of consumer sentiment came in at a preliminary index reading of 93.8 for December, up from November's final reading of 88.8. December's report beat economists' forecasts by more than four points and puts the index at its highest level since January 2007.

Fannie Mae has expanded its risk sharing offerings with Wednesday's announcement of a credit insurance risk transfer (CIRT) deal, which transfers the credit risk on a pool of loans from the taxpayers to a panel of domestic reinsurers. The new deal fulfills one of the 2014 Conservatorship Scorecard goals, which was to complete a variety of risk sharing transactions.

Looking at the year ahead, Fitch predicts a bounce in both supply and demand for homes as the economy continues to steadily expand and both employment measures and consumer confidence see improvement. With housing starts and new home sales expected to advance, Fitch sees a possibility of higher revenues for homebuilders.

A $1.1 trillion congressional spending bill proposed this week may avoid another government shutdown, but officials at the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) are less than impressed at the absence of funds for certain agency initiatives. "We are deeply disappointed programs that could have served millions of families will not be permitted under the bill," said Acting FHA Commissioner Biniam Gebre in a statement Thursday.

F.N.B. Corporation, a diversified financial services company with headquarters in Pittsburgh, announced the appointment of Steve A. Ek as chief consumer credit officer.

In a survey of 45 economists conducted by the Wall Street Journal, the panel largely agreed that throughout all of 2014, housing proved to be the weakest link in the economic chain, with weak household formations weighing down on demand and production.

California's DocMagic, a provider of compliant loan document preparation services, has acquired the assets of Doc-Tech Corporation, according to a company announcement.

The average interest rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) product was 3.93 percent (0.5 point) for the week ending December 11, Freddie Mac reported Thursday in its Primary Mortgage Market Survey. The average 30-year fixed rate was 3.89 percent a week ago and 4.42 percent this time last year.

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) monthly survey of loan application volumes at home builders shows new home purchase activity was down 22 percent month-over-month in November, the group said Thursday. Looking at all indicators, MBA estimates new single-family home sales ran at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 401,000 units last month, a 13 percent drop from the association's October estimate.