By now, everyone knows the Federal Housing Finance Agency plans to hire an investment banking firm to assist with recap and release plans, but what about the GSEs?

There's a strong demand out there for mortgage processors, but overall, residential-related hiring has been tepid...

On purchase mortgages, African-Americans were denied 17.5% of the time compared to 8.0% for non-Hispanic whites…

The FHA program saw the slowest gain in FTHB business, up just 13.6% from the previous period…

Overall, banks and thrifts sold $165.10 billion through their mortgage banking operations during the second quarter, up 34.5% sequentially…

KBW this week significantly hiked its price target on Fannie/Freddie common to $3 and $4 a share, respectively. For years, KBW’s price target for GSE common was a mere $1.

 Fitch said the referenced mortgages will remain on balance sheet as unencumbered assets of JPMorgan Chase.

Departing GSE executive David Lowman: “With over six years at Freddie Mac, I want to take advantage of opportunities presented by the rapidly evolving mortgage finance marketplace and its adjacent industries."

Although Brian Montgomery has been sworn in, he still faces a hearing in the Senate. Meanwhile, the Senate’s time might be taken up with a possible impeachment trial…

The gain in retail market share came at the expense of both correspondent and wholesale-broker originations.