Government

A $1.1 trillion congressional spending bill proposed this week may avoid another government shutdown, but officials at the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) are less than impressed at the absence of funds for certain agency initiatives. "We are deeply disappointed programs that could have served millions of families will not be permitted under the bill," said Acting FHA Commissioner Biniam Gebre in a statement Thursday.

In a testimony before the Senate Banking Committee's subcommittee on housing, Mabel Guzman, 2014 chair of the National Association of Realtors' (NAR) Conventional Finance and Lending Committee, highlighted some of the biggest challenges constraining homeownership.

In a report released Monday, the Collingwood Group said that 65 percent of lenders and other mortgage industry workers support the push for GSE reform, calling their current state of conservatorship under the Federal Housing Finance Agency unsustainable. At the same time, none of the survey respondents called for a wind-down or elimination of the GSEs.

The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) announced Friday it will leave loan limits unchanged for the highest- and lowest-cost housing markets in 2015. For most high-cost housing markets, the maximum allowable amount for an FHA loan will stay at $625,000, a threshold first set at the start of this year.

U.S. payrolls for November surpassed even the most optimistic forecasts, increasing at the highest rate in more than two years, according to a government estimate.

Months after the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) first unveiled a rule establishing eligibility requirements for private insurers, the agency informed some of the nation's top firms it doesn't plan to release a finalized rule until close to the end of Q1 2015 or later, according to an announcement from U.S. Mortgage Insurers (USMI).

The enhancements are designed to make monthly mortgage payments affordable for homeowners in MHA who are struggling, to strengthen the safety net for homeowners facing financial hardships, and to help stabilize communities most affected by the financial crisis by helping homeowners in MHA build equity in their homes.

Lawmakers are asking why the Justice Department is requiring the lenders to donate money to certain housing counseling agencies approved by HUD as part of their settlements.

The United States Senate voted Tuesday to confirm the nomination of former Treasury assistant secretary Nani Coloretti to her new post as deputy secretary of HUD. Coloretti's confirmation comes months after the Senate confirmed Julian Castro as HUD secretary.

Together, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac reported 389,284 refinances throughout the third quarter, according to their conservator, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA). The figure compares to a total of 344,507 in the second quarter. As refinance volumes rose, the share of refinances completed through the government's Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) fell further.