This wasn’t how Damon Germanides of Insignia Mortgage Inc. thought his life would turn out. Not that he wasn’t supposed to be in Southern California — that’s exactly where he was supposed to be. But the family business was about feeding the rich and famous, not helping them buy houses. “I come from a family business and that’s the restaurant business,” Germanides said. “My dad had a restaurant for many years and I worked there into my early 30s.” The restaurant, Mirabelle, was one of West...

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac each recently released their fourth-quarter 2018 financial results, with the two government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) reporting solid growth and increased annual income. Fannie reported a 2018 comprehensive income of $15.6 billion and a fourth-quarter income of $3.2 billion. Freddie, meanwhile, posted a comprehensive income of $8.6 billion and a fourth-quarter income of $1.5 billion. Both GSEs raised their earnings significantly from the previous year. Fannie’s...

Citing the healthy U.S. economy, the Federal Reserve issued a statement Wednesday affirming its intention to stand pat on the federal funds rate. With a strong labor market, low unemployment and a positive inflation outlook, the Federal Open Market Committee — a Fed committee that regularly meets to set monetary policy — has decided to maintain the target range for the federal funds rate at 2.25 to 2.5 percent, opting for stability over stimulation. The federal funds rate is the short-term...

Ginnie Mae is looking to further curtail repeated, risky Veterans Affairs (VA) loan refinances that it says are negatively affecting the pricing of its mortgage-backed securities. Ginnie — officially the Government National Mortgage Association, a wholly owned government corporation under the Department of Housing and Urban Development — is considering excluding certain VA loans from its primary mortgage bond programs. VA loan refinancing has been a thorn in Ginnie’s side for a while. The...

Millennials are steadily taking over the mortgage market, but according to First American Financial Corp., mortgage lenders are using unsuitable metrics to assess the housing landscape for this generation. “[D]espite the fact that millennial demand for homes is set to increase, traditional measures of affordability are skewed toward people that already own homes, offering a somewhat misleading perspective for potential first-time homebuyers,” said First American’s inaugural First-Time Home...