Tag Archives: Freddie Mac

Depressed construction activity is expected to continue weighing down both housing and the larger economy, Freddie Mac predicts in its latest Economic and Housing Outlook.

While the government works toward GSE reform, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods (KBW), a financial services provider; says reform for the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) should also be a top concern.

JPMorgan Chase is reportedly set to pay a record $13 billion to the government to settle questions surrounding its sale of bonds backed by poor loans. An unidentified source reportedly told Bloomberg that JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon discussed the deal on Friday with U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder. According to that source, the discussed deal does not release the bank from potential claims of criminal liability at the insistence of Holder, who earlier this year remarked that some institutions may be "too big to jail."

August's rising mortgage rates continued to impact refinance numbers reported by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency's (FHFA) latest data.

Mortgage rates broke their streak of weekly declines, climbing this week as the federal budget deadline approached.

With Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Acting Director Edward DeMarco considering lowering loan limits for the GSEs, congressional and industry leaders are speaking out against such a plan, saying it poses a threat of hindering the housing recovery. In the last week, the Mortgage Bankers Association, National Association of Federal Credit Unions, and 66 House representatives have all written to DeMarco, decrying the potential move and even questioning its legality.

Freddie Mac has made available a Spanish version of CreditSmart, the company's free online tutorial designed to educate families on building savings and personal credit, making wise financial choices, and becoming successful homeowners.

Multifamily lenders provided a total of $146.1 billion in new mortgages for apartments with five or more units--a 33 percent increase from 2011, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA). "In many ways we were in a golden age of multifamily finance in 2012, that to a large extent continues today," said Jamie Woodwell, MBA's VP of commercial real estate finance. "Low interest rates, strong property fundamentals and increasing multifamily property prices are all supporting a very favorable lending environment."

SunTrust announced Thursday that it has taken further steps to clear up its mortgage problems with the government and with the GSEs. On top of an agreement reached with Freddie Mac at the end of September, SunTrust has settled with HUD, the Department of Justice, and the Federal Reserve for allegedly unsound practices with respect to its servicing and origination operations. The Atlanta-based lender estimates its third-quarter earnings will take a $179 million hit as a result.

Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase both released their earnings summaries for the third quarter on Friday, revealing the full toll that legal expenses have taken on the latter's profits.