FREDDIE MAC

The Inspector General of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) said in a report released on Tuesday that the regulator did not provide enough oversight of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in mortgage repurchases, executive compensation and other transactions.

The planned retirement of Congressman Barney Frank, D-Mass., leaves the Democratic party lacking in the YouTube mojo department. Partisan sniping aside, Frank was a regular source of one-liners and playful harassment of his legislative colleagues and TV talking heads.

The U.S. average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rate remained steady at 3.98 percent in the week ending Nov. 17, according to Freddie Mac.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is the current beneficiary of Republican voters' perpetual search for an alternative to Mitt Romney, and he's enjoying the amplified media attention that accompanies a rise in the polls. If he declines, is Huntsman next? Or is it time to write-off the former Utah governor?

A company run by former American International Group Inc Chief Executive Maurice Hank Greenberg sued the U.S. government for $25 billion, calling the 2008 federal takeover of the insurer unconstitutional.

After being blacklisted by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, troubled foreclosure firm Steven J. Baum PC announced on Monday that it would be closing.

Sales of previously owned homes in the U.S. rose in October while the number of homes on the market continued to decline, according to the National Association of Realtors. Although falling property values and near record-low borrowing costs are starting to appeal to homebuyers, a growing trend of last minute cancellation suggests that even those who are looking to buy are worried about the housing market.

Presidential candidate Newt Gingrich has roared into the lead of the Republican nominating race, brushing off concerns about his work for a troubled housing company, a Reuters/Ipsos poll showed.

The U.S. House and Senate voted to increase the threshold of mortgages backed by the Federal Housing Adminstration (FHA) to $729,750, a move that would give more homeowners access to lower interest rates.

With Herman Cain's fall, Newt Gingrich is up to bat as the latest conservative alternative to Mitt Romney. Where does the former speaker of the House stand on the issues?

Top executives at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac on Wednesday defended their companies' pay practices from attack by lawmakers angry that the government-controlled firms were paying out nearly $13 million in executive bonuses.

A list of compensation packages given to previous Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac CEOs during the past decade or so was released in a report produced by the House Oversight and Government Reform committee.

Top executives at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac defended their lucrative pay before a House panel on Wednesday, one day after lawmakers approved suspending top executive compensation packages and moving the firms' thousands of employees onto a pay scale that lines up with federal financial regulators.

Top executives at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac on Wednesday defended their companies' pay practices which have drawn opposition after it was disclosed the government-controlled firms were paying out nearly $13 million in executive bonuses.

Real estate mogul Sam Zell's Equity Residential is the lead bidder to buy 53 percent of rival company Archstone for over $2.5 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Newt Gingrich earned between $1.6 million and $1.8 million as a consultant for the government-sponsored mortgage company Freddie Mac, far more than the $300,000 contract he disclosed in a recent debate, according to a Bloomberg News investigation. The advice he reportedly gave them contradicts his recent criticisms of the company.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac , the largest sources of U.S. housing finance, both said on Tuesday they would relieve lenders from certain risks associated with refinanced loans in an effort to help a government program reach more distressed homeowners.

The regulator for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac on Tuesday tried to parry congressional critics of million-dollar pay packages for executives at the government-owned mortgage firms, saying he would seek to push compensation lower over time.

FBR Capital Markets said the broad changes to the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) were outlined by U.S. President Barack Obama's administration on Oct. 24. However, the release of most of the technical details was delayed until Nov. 15.

The Federal Housing Administration, which guarantees around a third of U.S. mortgages, faces dwindling cash reserves and could require a taxpayer bailout, according to a forthcoming study by Joseph Gyourko, a professor at the Wharton School.

The U.S. 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rate dropped slightly to 3.99 percent in the week ending Nov. 10, according to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey.