White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said an executive order aimed at reducing federal spending remained in effect.

Late on Jan. 27, the Trump administration ordered a pause for federal loan and grant activity, but the vague wording of the order prompted uncertainty for the mortgage market.

Non-core products are areas of the market in which non-agency financing is seen as being able to compete with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

FHFA directors have typically been technocrats with backgrounds in housing finance or federal regulation.

With Acra and its owner, HPS Investment Partners, New York, slated to be sold to BlackRock later this year, Keith Lind, CEO of Acra, anticipates that insurance companies will be lining up to buy whole loans from the lender.

Early indicators suggest that the 2025 spring homebuying season may look similar to 2024, according to CoreLogic.

Production, largely through the AmeriHome Mortgage correspondent unit, declined by 1.5% from the third quarter.

“It was an ‘AcquiHire’ type scenario,” said Rick Roque, an industry consultant who also holds the title of head of growth at NFM Lending.

Scott Bessent's nomination for secretary of the Treasury Department was approved on a 68-29 vote.

Deliveries to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac of mortgages with private MI more than quadrupled from the third quarter, hitting $6.58 billion in the fourth quarter.