GSEs

Redwood Trust is "repositioning" its mortgage business by focusing mainly on jumbo loans, according to its top executives.

The government-sponsored enterprise was enthusiastic about launching the 97% loan-to-value product when it announced it in December 2014. But it has yet to become a sizable part of Fannie's business.

Fannie Mae's net income fell 23% to $11 billion in 2015 from a year earlier despite benefiting from higher purchases of single-family and multifamily loans, the government-sponsored enterprise said Friday.

Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Mel Watt stopped short of calling for Treasury to recapitalize the government-sponsored enterprises, but said "something needs to be done" before they run out of capital.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency is launching a 10-day social media campaign, #HARPNow, to alert struggling homeowners in 10 states that they can still refinance via the program before it expires at year-end.

The Chicago, Des Moines and Cincinnati FHLBs have grown their life insurance company membership the most in recent years.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency's decision to exclude captive insurance companies from Federal Home Loan Bank membership makes the FHLB system like a private country club.

Strong demand for rentals will keep pace with new construction over the next few years, the government-sponsored enterprise says.

The Federal Home Loan Bank System was designed to provide liquidity to community lenders and traditional insurers, not to unregulated lenders that circumvent the membership rules.

Mortgage REIT says five-year transition plan won't have an impact on its financing model.