Industries

The impressive loan growth in the second quarter is surprising in an economy that grew by 1.2% in the second quarter and by only 0.8% in the first quarter.

Returning Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to their status as privately owned public utilities is consistent with their mandate and makes the most policy sense.

A proposed 50% expansion to the Low Income Housing Tax Credit program would yield new opportunities for banks to finance development projects and meet their Community Reinvestment Act obligations.

Benefiting from higher loan guarantee income and lower derivative losses, Freddie Mac said Tuesday it had made $993 million in the second quarter, a dramatic reversal from its $354 million loss a quarter earlier.

Carver Bancorp in New York is dealing with a new set of challenges just months after being released from a longstanding enforcement order. The company’s woes highlight the challenges for banks with narrowly constrained business models.

Regulators' recent warnings on emerging risks with commercial real estate indicate banks have reverted to CRE practices that got them in hot water once before.

President Obama called for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to be eliminated, but Democratic policymakers attending the convention in Philadelphia appear resigned to the fact that Congress is unable to act on housing finance reform.

As if high default costs haven't been challenging enough for mortgage servicers, a growing number of seriously delinquent loans are Federal Housing Administration products, which require significant upfront investment to resolve.

Suffolk Bancorp in New York, which recently agreed to be sold to People's United Financial, discouraged several suitors from bidding due to concerns about concentrations of commercial real estate loans at those banks. The disclosures highlight the challenges that banks with heavy CRE exposure could face — as buyers or sellers — if they want to do deals.

WASHINGTON — Fannie Mae is making its housing counseling requirements more flexible so additional borrowers can qualify for its low-down-payment, affordable loan program called HomeReady.