The changes are part of an extensive overhaul aimed at boosting the rural housing market, increasing the availability of rural home loans and spurring the construction of new homes in rural areas.

Investors hunger for yield. And what better place to get it than in the new breed of subprime mortgages.

A new report from FHFA confirms what small mortgage firms have long known: they can't catch much of break when it comes to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac guaranty fees.

Guaranty fees are going up next year, but with a new FHFA director set to take over, loan level price adjustments may be altered.

Although there are only a few weeks left in 2013, a few large mortgage servicing deals may get done yet.

While Ocwen Financial is laying off staffers, other firms are hiring, including Churchill Mortgage of Brentwood, TN.

With the increase, the average g-fee for new loans will be in the range of 60 basis points. But there is some good news: FHFA said it would eliminate the up-front “adverse market” fee of 25 bps assessed on all but the four states “whose foreclosure carrying costs are more than two standard deviations greater than the national average.”

Borrowers with existing FHA-insured mortgages may continue to utilize the agency’s streamline refinance program regardless of their loan balance. The current cap of $271,050 for “low cost” areas will remain unchanged.

Bexil American Mortgage and its subsidiary appear to be in a growth mode. They're looking to buy a retail lender and MSRs.

The agencies securitized just $35.46 billion of refinance loans during November, down 15 percent from the previous month, and refinances accounted for 44 percent of total issuance.