Last week, Joseph Otting, the then-acting director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, set the GSE rumor mills churning when he told an audience at George Mason University Law School that the agency would finish work this summer on the final capital rule for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Democrats have begun to respond to last week’s Trump administration memorandum, which directed the Secretary of the Treasury to coordinate with the Federal Housing Finance Agency and other executive branch departments to develop a plan to end the conservatorships of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Banks and thrifts racked up $571 billion of advances from the Federal Home Loan Bank system at the end of 2018, a 3.3% sequential gain but off 1.9% from a year ago, according to an analysis by Inside The GSEs. [Includes one data chart.]

In a straight, party-line vote, the Senate Thursday confirmed conservative economist Mark Calabria to be the next director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac got proportionally more of their single-family business from large-volume sellers in the first quarter, although production was down sharply in every seller category. [Includes two data charts.]

New York-based real estate investment trust MFA Financial is working on two separate non-QM- related MBS deals that could come to market sometime this spring, according to officials familiar with the transactions.

Industry participants fleshed out details of a housing-finance reform outline at two days of Senate hearings this week. They were divided, though, on whether an overhaul of the government-sponsored enterprises is even necessary, let alone what type of reforms need to be completed.

Delinquencies on subprime auto ABS are rising, according to data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. But S&P Global Ratings said the situation may not be as bad as the Fed suggests.

Investment demand for data-center real estate investment trusts is likely to grow given the expanding demand for technology services, and it will not be risky, Morningstar Credit Ratings said in a new report.

The secondary mortgage market could be in for historic change in the wake of President Trump this week ordering the Treasury Department to end the conservatorships of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and come up with a new paradigm.