Where stress tests are concerned, call Citigroup "most improved." The bank posted an 8.3 percent tier 1 common capital ratio, the highest of its peers,under the Federal Reserve's annual stress tests.

Fisher Says Fed Should Taper Asset Purchases as Housing Gains Businessweek Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Richard Fisher said the central bank should start scaling back asset purchases because the housing market "is getting to be quite strong." "A little tapering there would help people realize that we've bottomed out," ...

Federal Reserve releases summary results of bank stress tests

Freddie Mac Issues Monthly Volume Summary for January 2013

Press Release

It's true that the stress tests really are something of a public relations stunt, a very important one.

Nationstar Mortgage Sued in New York by Investor Over Loan Sale Bloomberg Nationstar Mortgage LLC was sued in New York by an investor that claims the company violated its responsibilities as mortgage servicer by auctioning mortgage loans owned by securitization trusts, according to a court filing. To contact the reporter on this ...

Household Worth in US Rises by $1.17 Trillion on Housing Businessweek Household wealth in the U.S. climbed in the fourth quarter to the highest level in five years, propelled by a gain in home prices that is helping repair family finances. Net worth for households and non-profit groups increased by $1.17 trillion from October ...

The use of new and existing approaches to draw more private capital into the U.S. mortgage market is at the heart of regulators' and politicians' agendas in 2013. Fitch sees the potential for some of these tools to be effective in gradually reducing the dominant role of government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) in housing finance. To date, efforts by the Federal Housing Finance Administration (FHFA) and other federal agencies to provide incentives for the creation of a vibrant private mortgage securitization market have been largely unsuccessful. Approximately $6 billion in private-label mortgage securities were issued in 2012, and single-family housing finance continues to rely almost exclusively on government support, in the form of GSEs, Ginnie Mae, and Federal Housing Administration/Veterans Affairs guarantees.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Household debt grew at its fastest pace since early 2008 in the fourth quarter last year, a possible sign that the painful process of paring back borrowing in the aftermath of the financial crisis may have run its course.

Many of the interest groups that directly benefit from large subsidizations in the housing market continue to state that Fannie and Freddie fell victim to the bad private market participants. This suggestion is completely false. It was government housing policy, coupled with loose money from the Federal Reserve, that caused the housing bubble and those are the areas where we must focus reform.

Nationstar Seeks Bids for Bundled Mortgages, Credit Suisse Says Bloomberg Nationstar Mortgage Holdings Inc. (NSM), the mortgage servicer that oversees more than $300 billion of debt, is taking the unusual step of selling home loans out of securities owned by investors, Credit Suisse Group AG said. Nationstar has sought bids ...

Consumer attitudes toward the economy and housing continue to diverge this winter, according to Fannie Mae's February 2013 National Housing Survey ...

CFPB Director Richard Cordray is set to appear before the Senate Banking Committee March 12 for a hearing on his nomination to a five-year term.

U.S. stock index futures signaled a higher open on Thursday as the risk-on rally continued, with shares in Europe reaching five-year highs in early trade after a successful bond auction by Spain.