Government

With regulatory oversight continuing to weigh heavier on the mortgage industry, compliance may be the only solution to avoid fines and penalties.

Mortgage lending standards continued to ease across all types of loans in the third quarter, according to Fannie Mae’s most recent Mortgage Lender Sentiment Survey.

The Federal Reserve decided on Thursday to keep the federal funds target rate at zero to 1/4 percent, where it has been for nine years, at the September meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee.

"In determining how long to maintain this target range, the Committee will assess progress—both realized and expected—toward its objectives of maximum employment and 2 percent inflation," the Fed said in a statement.

Although most securitization asset classes began to pick up in the years following the financial crisis, the private-label residential mortgage-backed securities market remains stagnant.

The number of first-time homebuyers is growing steadily in the housing market as mortgage rates remain low, labor conditions improve, and lending loosens up.

Opportunities exist to enhance the management controls over the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's controversial Consumer Complaint Database, according to a recent audit from the Office of the Inspector General for both the Federal Reserve and the CFPB.

Consumer expectations for the housing market are showing a mixed outlook for the U.S. economy, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s Center for Microeconomic Data August 2015 Survey of Consumer Expectations released Tuesday.

The Federal Housing Fiance Agency issued an update to their Common Securitization Platform on Tuesday outlining the progress that as been made in developing a new infrastructure for the securitization of single-family mortgages by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

As the Federal Reserve prepares to convene for their September 17th meeting, many wonder how a possible rate increase will affect the housing market.