Secondary Market

Fannie Mae's CFO is planning to retire from the company by the end of the June, the GSE said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). According to the filing, Susan McFarland, who also serves as EVP at Fannie Mae, "notified the company that she will retire ... after a transition period that will begin on the effective date of the appointment of a new Chief Financial Officer by our Board of Directors and end no later than June 30, 2013."

Homeowners who refinanced their mortgages in the fourth quarter of 2012 reduced their interest rates by an average of 33 percent.

Measuring the prices of loans sold through its platform, Boston-based DebtX? found commercial real estate (CRE) loan prices rose over the year in 2012 but ended the year with little change in December.

Ally Financial reported net income of $1.4 billion for 2012's last quarter as the bank continues to shift away from the mortgage business. Last quarter's $1.4 billion income was a marked turnaround from the net loss of $206 million reported at the end of 2011. For the entire year, Ally recorded a net income of $1.2 billion compared to a net loss of $157 million in 2011. According to the bank's quarterly earnings report, performance was largely "affected by strong on sale revenue in Mortgage Operations."

Asking prices rose dramatically in January as renting prices cooled off somewhat, according to the latest data in Trulia's Price and Rent monitors. The company's Price Monitor showed a 0.3 percent quarter-over-quarter rise in January (without seasonal adjustment). On a seasonally adjusted basis, prices increased 2.2 percent quarterly. While January's numbers signal a strong price recovery, Trulia's chief economist warned the month's gains could disappear in some areas.

The Justice Department (DoJ) and Standard & Poor's (S&P) are at odds with other over civil fraud charges stemming from an alleged scheme to defraud investors in the lead-up to 2008's financial meltdown. The DoJ filed a civil lawsuit against S&P and its parent company, McGraw-Hill, Monday, alleging that S&P "knowingly [issued] inflated credit ratings" for collateralized debt obligations in the years before the crash, misrepresenting their creditworthiness and understating their risks.

CBRE Capital Markets was 2012's top seller of multifamily loans, according to a release from Freddie Mac.

A new poll from the Consumer Reports National Research Center (CRNRC) shows consumer confidence is off to a sluggish start in 2013.

Realtors in December expected prices to rise by about 3.5 percent over the next year, while consumer estimates were more modest at 2.5 percent for the same time period, Capital Economics noted in its monthly housing report. The estimates show a growing optimism among those groups. But, with the low supply of inventory, Capital Economics anticipates much bigger gains.

Fannie Mae maintained its position as the largest source for multifamily financing in 2012 after providing $33.8 billion to the sector.