Tag Archives: Freddie Mac

Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS) showed surprisingly little life this week following the better-than-expected jobs report for September. While rates did rise for the week ending October 11, most increases were mild. The 30-year fixed average posted the largest growth, rising to 3.39 percent (0.7 point) from 3.36 percent├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┬Øa record low├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┬Øthe week before. Bankrate's survey saw more dramatic increases, with the 30-year fixed hiking up seven basis points to 3.59 percent.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency released a revised GSE Strategic Plan for the years 2013-2017 Tuesday.

For the second week in a row, mortgage rates hit new record lows, and for the first time since mid-October 2009, the 15-year fixed-rate mortgage rate is lower than the 5-year adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) rate. Frank Nothaft, VP and chief economist at Freddie Mac, attributes the falling rates to "mortgage securities purchases by the Federal Reserve and indicators of a weakening economy," such as slow personal income growth in August and last quarter's downwardly revised Gross Domestic Product.

Wall Street took notice as the Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities (RMBS) Working Group fired its first shot against a major financial institution.

MGIC Investment Corporation is on its way to resolving stipulations from Freddie Mac in order to continue issuing insurance.

Freddie Mac has emerged as the victor in a legal battle over alleged securities fraud. Originally filed in August 2008, the putative class action lawsuit was dismissed with prejudice.

With gaffes and down polls embroiling his campaign, Republican presidential nominee and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney unveiled a housing white paper on Friday to reposition his message and salvage his campaign. The document, titled ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├àÔÇ£Securing the American Dream and the Future of Housing,├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├é┬Ø prescribes several conservative policy must-haves. For starters, there├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós much ado about the return of private capital to the secondary mortgage market and devolution for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Oh, and jobs. Twelve million to be exact.

Rep. John Campbell introduced to Congress a piece of legislation designed to keep local governments from using eminent domain to seize homes with underwater mortgages. Titled ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├àÔÇ£The Defending American Taxpayers from Abusive Government Takings Act,├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├é┬Ø the bill would prohibit Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, FHA, and the Veterans Administration from purchasing or guaranteeing loans originating in counties where a municipality has seized a mortgage loan through eminent domain in the last decade.

On the heels of the Federal Housing Finance Agency├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós announcement of its revised representation and warranty guidelines comes news that Freddie Mac will be increasing its repurchase claims in the near future. The revised rep and warranty guidelines were designed to provide more clarity in the market, but in the meantime, the FHFA Office of Inspector General reports Freddie Mac will increase repurchase requests to between $0.8 billion and $1.2 billion this year and between $2.2 billion and $3.4 billion overall.

Before the Five Star Conference went into full swing last week, one firm, Valuation Vision, announced the participation of one of its members at one of the industry event├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós noteworthy academic courses. The Oceanside, California-based valuation products company, a subsidiary of The Kirchmeyer Group, revealed that Bill Mohler, director of product development, would join other distinguished panelists in the class titled ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├àÔÇ£Opposing Values: BPO vs. Appraisals vs. Desktops vs. AVMs.├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├é┬Ø