Tag Archives: Lenders & Servicers

Despite reported net income of $619 million for the 2011 fourth quarter, Freddie Mac will still need to request $146 million from the U.S. Treasury for the company's fourth quarter net worth deficit due to "senior preferred dividends paid of $1.7 billion," the Freddie Mac 2011 fourth quarter and year 2011 report stated. For the 2011 third quarter, $6 billion was requested after the GSE reported its largest quarterly loss in over a year. Overall, the GSE has requested $7.6 billion from the Treasury for the year 2011.

In Minnesota, a former house flipper was sentenced to more than eight years in federal prison for his role in a real estate investment scheme, topping the weekly fraud blotter for TheMReport.com. The hefty sentence for Robert W. Dufrense, Jr., who is accused of bilking more than $5 million out of investors across multiple states, was more elaborate than expected due to an additional charge for obstructing justice. Dufresne was originally convicted of one count of mail fraud and one count of money laundering for a house-flipping scam.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported data that indicates nationwide employment gains during February, with the country adding 227,000 jobs during the month.

A new real estate investment trust (REIT) team has been appointed at MLV & Co. The recently launched company division will be led by Ryan Meliker, who will serve as MLV's senior REIT analyst.

Fannie Mae rolls out an initiative to make loan-level data for single-family mortgage-backed securities (MBS) accessible and transparent; the GSE will begin releasing data during Q1.

Homebuyer affordability is at a record high, and a big driver of that underlying market denominator is the fact that mortgage interest rates continue to hover close to 60-year lows. Data released Thursday by Freddie Mac puts the average rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage at 3.88 percent, and the 15-year fixed-rate mortgage hit a record low of 3.13 percent. Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac's chief economist, says that due to these factors, the typical family had more than double the income needed to purchase a median-priced home in January.

According to data released today by the U.S. Department of Labor, first time claims for unemployment insurance rose 8,000 in the week ended March 2. The report marks the third straight weekly increase, following revisions to earlier statistics. Continuing claims, reported on a one-week lag, increased 10,000 to hit 3,416,000, representing the second straight weekly increase. The four week moving average for initial claims edged up modestly to 355,000 from 354750 while the average for continuing claims fell.

Consumer credit directly impacts the lending environment, and a recent report from CreditForecast.com reveals that American borrowers are on the rebound.

In Michigan, Main Street Bank is expanding its mortgage banking operations. The financial institutions recently announced the opening of a new mortgage office in downtown Rochester.

More Americans feel confident about their household finances, the housing recovery, and the prospect of an economic upturn, Fannie Mae said Wednesday. The mortgage giant drew on poll data from some 1,000 respondents to sketch a blend of guardedness and hopefulness in a National Housing Report. Thirty-five percent of Americans now believe the economy is on the right track, an increase from 19 percent in November, compared with 57 percent who still feel damp about the state of recovery. Fewer respondents fielded layoff concerns.