Several leading mortgage insurance providers for the industry have announced that if the enhanced Private Mortgage Insurer Eligibility Requirements (PMIERs) announced by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) went into effect today, they would be in complete compliance.

April's target annual sales rate for existing homes of 5.31 million is an increase of 2.3 percent from March and 11.8 percent from April 2014, according to Auction.com. "Among the factors contributing to the jump in March's existing home sales, pent-up demand from weak sales in January and February probably played a significant role," Auction.com EVP Rick Sharga said.

In the response letter, dated April 21, 2015, Treasury's Acting Assistant Secretary for Legislative Affairs, Randall DeValk said that wanted to "clarify some misunderstandings" from some press reports regarding the agreement, and said that the government's $187.5 billion bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac with taxpayer funds in 2008 was not an "ordinary" loan.

Purchase mortgage applications rebounded sharply in April from a recent slowdown, reaching their highest level in almost two years, marking the second monthly surge in purchase apps this year. Combined with continued low mortgage rates, the rise in purchase apps could indicate a strong homebuying season in the spring and summer.

Following weeks of debate over whether the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) would be lowering its fees to guarantee mortgages backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the ...

For San Francisco-based Wells Fargo in Q1, revenues increased by 3 percent year-over-year up to $21.3 billion. Although net income slightly declined from the same quarter a year ago from $5.9 billion to $5.8 billion, noninterest income for the bank jumped by $29 million up to $10.3 billion. The bank received higher income in Q1 from trading activities, debt security gains, mortgage origination gains, and insurance, but the higher income was offset by lower income in mortgage servicing, which was at $108 million for Q1 compared to $235 million for Q4 2014. Wells Fargo posted mortgage banking noninterest income of $1.5 billion for Q1.

“Get Financially Fit In and Around Your Home” rounds out National Financial Literacy Month with a discussion on what prospective homebuyers can learn and what existing homeowners can do to bring down expenses.

California-based firms The Life Planning Companies and National Real Estate Solutions (NRES) have teamed with Henderson, Nevada-based RIO Genesis to take advantage of RIO's breakthrough technology platform, national real estate broker organization (the NRBA), and numerous RIO Genesis users, real estate brokers, and agents, according to an announcement from RIO Genesis CEO Michael Krein.

Lockhart said before a monetary policy liftoff decision is made, he would like to see data that the desired outcomes are being achieved – but he said support for a monetary policy liftoff decision will be a judgment call. But in the big overall economic picture, he said, strength in one aspect of the economy may offset ambiguity in another area.

Goldman CEO Lloyd Blankfein said he was pleased with the fact that “all of our major businesses contributed” to the strong first quarter. “Given more normalized markets and higher levels of client activity, we remain encouraged about the prospects for continued growth,” he said.