FREDDIE MAC

Fannie Mae's gross mortgage portfolio shrank sharply in November while the delinquency rate on single-family loans it guarantees leaped in October, the government-controlled U.S. home funding company said on Monday.

After hitting an all-time low in early December, the average rate on a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage rose to 5.05 percent this week and could climb to 6 percent by the end of 2010, the Washington Post reported on Saturday, citing U.S. mortgage financier Freddie Mac's latest survey.

Japan approved on Friday a record budget for next year that will inflate the country's already huge debt by $484 billion, as the prime minister vowed to battle on in the face of a growing scandal and sliding poll ratings.

The Federal Reserve bought $15.0 billion net of agency mortgage-backed securities in the latest week, the New York Fed said on its website on Thursday.

The U.S. Senate approved President Barack Obama's landmark healthcare overhaul on Thursday, backing sweeping changes in the medical insurance market and new coverage for tens of millions of uninsured Americans.

The top U.S. housing regulator said on Thursday it approved 2009 pay packages of up to $6 million each for the chief executives of government-controlled mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac .

Freddie Mac's mortgage investment portfolio shrank in November while the rate of delinquencies on the loans in guarantees escalated, the U.S. home funding company said on Wednesday.

U.S. mortgage rates rose for a second consecutive week but remained below 5 percent, a closely watched mortgage survey showed on Thursday, a key level that may boost home loan demand and help the housing market recover.

U.S. mortgage rates rose for a second consecutive week but remained below 5 percent, a closely watched mortgage survey showed on Thursday, a key level that may boost home loan demand and help the housing market recover.

U.S. fixed home loan rates edged above record lows in the past week, tracking bond yields higher following surprise improvement in November employment, home funding company Freddie Mac (FRE.N)(FRE.P) said on Thursday.

Lenders stung by the financial crisis are still holding back on extending credit, impeding a recovery in the housing market, Federal Reserve Governor Elizabeth Duke said on Thursday.

U.S. mortgage insurers are likely to reject as much as $4 billion in claims by lenders over the next few years as they get more aggressive in pushing responsibility for bad loans to originators, Moody's Investors Service said in a report.

U.S. mortgage rates dropped to a record low in the latest week, as rates fell for a fifth straight week, a closely watched mortgage survey showed Thursday.

U.S. mortgage rates sank to or near record lows in the past week, home funding company Freddie Mac said, improving affordability in a battered U.S. housing market that is starting to gather steam.

Freddie Mac, the U.S. mortgage finance giant, said on Monday it is seeking $595 million in loan payments and other funds hung up after the bankruptcy of lender Taylor, Bean & Whitaker.

Freddie Mac, the second largest provider of U.S. residential mortgage funding, on Friday posted a loss of $5 billion in the third quarter and predicted it would need more government support amid a prolonged deterioration in housing.

Freddie Mac , the second largest provider of U.S. residential mortgage funding, on Friday posted a loss of $5 billion in the third quarter and predicted it would need more government support amid a prolonged deterioration in housing.

Fannie Mae, the largest provider of funding for U.S. home loans, said on Thursday bad mortgages and a federal foreclosure prevention program left it with a $18.9 billion loss, forcing it to tap the Treasury again to plug a hole in its net worth.

U.S. mortgage rates fell below 5 percent for the first time in three weeks, a key level that may boost home loan demand and help the hard-hit housing market recover, a closely watched mortgage survey showed Thursday.

U.S. mortgage rates fell below 5 percent for the first time in three weeks, a key level that may boost home loan demand and help the hard-hit housing market recover, a closely watched mortgage survey showed Thursday.

Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc has joined Goldman Sachs Group Inc in a bid to buy $3 billion in tax credits from mortgage giant Fannie Mae, the Wall Street Journal's website reported, citing people familiar with the matter.