Secondary Market

In practice, Fannie and Freddie have dominated the mortgage finance market, prompting lawmakers from both ends of the political spectrum to take action.

Morgan Stanley is the latest company to make peace with the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) over alleged misrepresentation of bad securities sold to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

National Real Tax Tracking (NRTT), a nationwide real estate tax management firm headquartered in Chicago, announced the promotion of Kelly Houseman-Hebert to managing director.

Churchill Mortgage announced the opening of its first brick and mortar location in Missouri.

Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corporation (MGIC) announced the promotion of both Mike Kull and Dean Dardzinski to VP national account manager.

MountainView Servicing Group announced the offering of another Fannie Mae mortgage servicing rights (MSR) portfolio, this one with an unpaid principal balance of $2.4 billion. According to MountainView, the portfolio features 100 percent first-lien and 99.7 percent fixed-rate products (with 86 percent 30-year fixed-rate loans) and a weighted average interest rate of 3.69 percent. Bids for the portfolio are due February 6 at 3 p.m. Eastern.

The average interest rate on the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) came down to 4.32 percent (0.7 point) for the week ending January 30, Freddie Mac reported in its Primary Mortgage Market Survey.

In its first meeting this year, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) voted to once again cut back on the Fed's bond-buying program.

As fixed interest rates continue on their upward path, initial-period rates on adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) remain near historic lows--a stat the Freddie Mac anticipates will factor into borrowing decisions in the year ahead. "As longer-term interest rates rise, ARMs with their lower initial interest rates will become more appealing to loan applicants," said Frank Nothaft, VP and chief economist for Freddie Mac. "We are expecting ARMs to gradually gain back some favor with mortgage borrowers."

Sixteen-year mortgage industry veteran John Coughlin has joined LRES as its new VP of sales, the asset management and valuations company announced.