In what may well be his last appearance before Congress as chairman of the Federal Reserve, Ben Bernanke this week indicated the central bank’s much-debated “tapering” of its massive asset purchase program is likely to begin later this year and then cease altogether by the middle of 2014, assuming the U.S. economy progresses as the Fed anticipates. At the same time, the Fed chief emphasized the Federal Open Market Committee will continue to be flexible in responding to market and economic conditions, all based on the flow of data coming into the committee. Bernanke said the FOMC has made...

Redwood Trust, not surprisingly, was the top jumbo MBS issuer in the first half of 2013, according to exclusive rankings from Inside MBS & ABS.

The Fed chief told elected officials that whatever housing finance reform plan they choose to replace Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, it should be clear to private investors about the government’s role in the market.

Not only are nonperforming residential mortgages being placed into new securities, but so are re-performing loans.

Fear and loathing in the mortgage job market? Movement Mortgage has let several mortgage workers go. Can looser underwriting standards save the day?

California remains the top source of new single-family mortgages for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, even as Fannie remains the dominant GSE in terms of production through the first half of the year, according to an Inside The GSEs analysis. A total of $160.3 billon home loans on Golden State properties were securitized by the two GSEs during the first six months of 2013, accounting for 23.1 percent of their total business for the half year. That was up 21.2 percent from total California production during the first six months of 2012 as the overall GSE market rose 20.2 percent from a year ago.

First-time homebuyers accounted for 33 percent of all GSE-securitized purchase mortgages in the first half, according to Inside Mortgage Finance.

Jumbo originations increased at First Republic Bank, but its mortgage gain-on-sale margin took a hit.

Flagstar hopes to unload $30 billion in residential servicing rights, but is contemplating selling even more in the way of MSRs.

Mortgage company owners hoping to go public or tap the capital markets for another round of equity financing may have to temper their expectations in the new interest rate environment. But that doesn’t mean initial public offerings are out of favor with investors. According to industry experts, it’s a matter of expectations. “Some people are saying these deals won’t happen now,” said Paul Miller, a top analyst at FBR Capital Markets. “But I’m not in that camp. Any deal that is priced correctly will sell.” Miller told...