Mortgages

The following books, associations, government resources, and statistical reports and publications are useful for those researching mortgages. Information is also available on foreclosures.

Selected Print Materials

The General Collections of the Library of Congress are rich in print materials on the topic of mortgages. The following list of materials focus on both select reference materials, and current topics in mortgages. The books listed below link to fuller bibliographic information for each item in the Library of Congress Online Catalog. Links to additional online content are provided when available.

Housing statistics handbook. Housing and Home Finance Agency, Office of Housing Economics by United States. National Housing Agency.
Call Number: Call Number: HD7293 .A5 1948
Published/Created: 1948
This handbook contains mostly urban or non-farm rural statistics. It includes foreclosure data, housing supply/need, residential construction costs, housing finance, occupancy/vacancy, building permits, number of rooms, rent/owner occupied. Most data is from around 1946, although some data goes back to the 1920's. Race and household size data is included. Available online from Hathi Trust External
Housing statistics of the United States by Bernan Press U.S. databook series
Call Number: HD7293.A1 H654
Published/Created: 1999-2012
Housing Statistics is a comprehensive source for historical statistics on households, housing, and housing finance. There are numerous tables that provide data on a wide range of housing topics, including: household and housing unit characteristics; prices, rents, and affordability; housing production and investment; home mortgage lending; and federal housing programs.
Predatory Lending and the Destruction of the African-American Dream by Janis Sarra; Cheryl Wade
Call Number: HG2040.2 .S27 2020
ISBN: 9781108496063
Published/Created: 2020-07-09
Since the Great Recession of 2008, the racial wealth gap between black and white Americans has continued to widen. In Predatory Lending and the Destruction of the African-American Dream, Janis Sarra and Cheryl Wade detail the reasons for this failure by analyzing the economic exploitation of African Americans, with a focus on predatory practices in the home mortgage context. They also examine the failure of reform and litigation efforts ostensibly aimed at addressing this form of racial discrimination. This research, augmented by first-hand narratives, provides invaluable insight into the racial wealth gap by vividly illustrating the predation that targets African-American consumers and examining the intentionally obfuscating settlement terms of cases brought by the U.S. Department of Justice, states attorneys, and municipalities. The authors conclude by offering structural, systemic changes to address predatory practices. This important work should be read by anyone seeking to understand racial inequality in the United States.
Savings & Home Financing Source Book; Combined financial statements, FSLIC-insured institutions. by U.S. Federal Home Loan Bank Board
Call Number: HG2150 .A384
Published/Created: 1952-1989
This "Chart Book" contains graphic presentation of data on savings and home financing that were published in the "Source Book," and represented institutions affiliated with the Federal Home Loan Bank System and the Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation. Includes information on mortgages held, nonfarm home mortgage debt, foreclosures, and patterns of individuals' savings accounts, Select years Available online from Hathi Trust External
Savings and home financing chart book
Call Number: HG2051.U5 A18
Published/Created: 1958
The "Chart Book" contains graphic representations of data on savings and home financing which were published in the "Source Book," which contains data compiled from institutions affiliated with the Federal Home Loan Bank System (FHLBS) and the Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation (FSLC).. It includes information on FHLBS and FHLB membership status, the financial stability in association operations, information on mortgage funds and financing through savings and loan institutions, their role in the mortgage market, foreclosures, and patterns of individuals' savings accounts. Available online from 1958-1964 at Hathi Trust External

Association Websites

The following external website is useful in researching both U.S. and overseas associations and organizations involved in the real estate field.

Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) External
The MBA is a trade association representing all aspects of the real estate finance industry, with a membership base that includes underwriters, originators, services, and mortgage companies. The MBA publishes the National Delinquency Survey (NDS), and it is the most recognized source for residential mortgage delinquency and foreclosure rates. The Association offers education, training, and information resources to mortgage professionals.

Foreclosure Resources

The blog post, external website, and print resource provided below leads to further information on foreclosures.

Foreclosure Defense: A Beginner's Guide
This blog post was created by the Law Library of Congress and provides information on state statutes, federal resources, cases and rules of procedure.

Nonfarm real estate foreclosure report by United States Federal Home Loan Board
Call Number: HG2051.U5
This reports the number of nonfarm real estate foreclosures in the United States. This information is available online on FRED, through the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.

United States Foreclosure Laws External
Provides a state by state summary of foreclosure law, including judicial foreclosure, non-judicial foreclosure, power of sale foreclosure guidelines, and no power of sale foreclosure guidelines.

Government Agencies and Organizations

Real estate and mortgages are heavily regulated on the local, regional, and federal level. The following web resouces from government agencies can enhance your research on these topics.

Consumer Financial Protection Board, Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA)
This link provides information and data concerning the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) that requires many financial institution to disclose loan-level information about mortgages. This sheds light on lending patterns that could be discriminatory. The HMDA was originally enacted by Congress in 1975 and is implemented by Regulation C. This web site provides downloadable data and analysis about mortgage trends.
Consumer Protection Offices by State
This link provides information on Consumer Protection Offices by state.
Fannie Mae - Federal National Mortgage Association (FNMA) External
The Federal National Mortgage Association (FNMA), known as Fannie Mae, is a U.S. government-sponsored enterprise and a publicly traded company. This site offers industry news, pricing on mortgage backed securities and debt instruments as well as market for Fannie Mae owned homes. Fannie Mae reports on the Single-Family Serious Delinquency rate.
Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council's (FFIEC)
The Council is a formal interagency body empowered to prescribe uniform principles, standards, and report forms for the federal examination of financial institutions by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (FRB), the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), and to make recommendations to promote uniformity in the supervision of financial institutions. Includes data and reports on Secure and Fair Enforcement for Mortgage Licensing Act, Community Reinvestment Act, Private Mortgage Insurance Companies disclosure, the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act, and aggregate reports.
Federal Housing Administration (FHA), Office of Housing, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
Created by the National Housing Act of 1934, the FDA sets standards for construction and underwriting, and is the largest insurer in the world. In the 1930s, the established underwriting standards discriminated against minority neighborhoods and resulted in the practice of redlining, which was made illegal by the Fair Housing Act of 1968.
Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA)
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) was established by the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 (HERA) and is responsible for the effective supervision, regulation, and housing mission oversight of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Federal Home Loan Bank System, which includes the 11 Federal Home Loan Banks (FHLBanks) and the Office of Finance. Since 2008, FHFA has also served as conservator of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.Regulates Federal Home Loan Banks. Provides research and analysis on the house price index, market data, and housing market indicators. Provides data sets on Home Loan Bank Member data, House Price Index, Market Data, Monthly Interest Rate Surveys, National Mortgage Database Data, National Survey of Mortgage originations, Federal Home Loan Data, and Underserved Areas Data.
Federal Reserve Board
The Federal Reserve Board conducts research and produces working papers, statistics, and reports, on economic and financial data, including research on residential and commercial real estate finance, mortgages, mortgage-backed securities (MBS) and commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS). It publishes information on mortgage debt outstanding and household debt service and financial obligations. The Fed reports on housing wealth. The FRAZER web site has Federal Home Loan Bank Board or Federal Home Loan Bank Administration annual reports digitized. The FRAZER web site has Federal Home Loan Bank Board or Federal Home Loan Bank Administration annual reports digitized. The Housing Renovation and Modernization Act of 1934, which developed mortgages and established the Federal Housing Administration is available at this site.
Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, U.S. Treasury Department
Enforces laws as they relate to mortgage and real estate fraud, including money laundering in the real estate industry.
Freddie Mac - Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (FHLMC) External
The Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (FHLMC) - Freddie Mac, is a public government-sponsored enterprise, that is Congressionally chartered and charged with increasing the availability of funds to mortgage lenders through mortgage purchases, guarantees and securitization. FHLMC offers consumer guidance on home investment and facilitates loan originations. The Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey® (PMMS®) has evolved since its inception in April 1971 into the foremost reliable, representative source of regional and national mortgage rate trends and is relied upon by the mortgage industry and the public in gauging market conditions and evaluating mortgage loan options. Freddie Mac surveys lenders each week on the rates, fees and points for the most popular mortgage products. Results are released Thursday at 10am EDT.
Ginnie Mae - Government National Mortgage Association (GNMA)
The Government National Mortgage Association (GNMA), or Ginnie Mae, was founded in 1968 to promote home ownership. As a wholly owned government corporation within the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Ginnie Mae’s mission is to expand affordable housing finance in the U.S. Ginnnie Mae guarantees mortgages in secondary markets. It provides resources for prospective homeowners and issues securities.
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
Contains information on housing, fairness, rental assistance, sustainability, as well as research - including data sets. The HUD publication Housing Market Conditions is now part of HUDUser. This quarterly publication includes housing and real estate statistics, provided nationally, regionally, and by state. Includes information on building permit starts, under construction, completion charts, as well as information on mobile and manufactured housing, home sales and prices, affordability, and apartment absorptions. Provides mortgage information like interest rate statistics and information on mortgage insurance, delinquency rates, foreclosure, housing stock, vacancy rates, and home ownership rates. The HUD State of the Cities Data Systems (SOCDS) page includes data sets for individual Metropolitan Areas, Central Cities and Suburbs in terms of crime, building permits, employment, and urban public finance.
U.S. Treasury Department
The Treasury Department site provides information on interests rates, treasury coupons, bonds, federal spending, and the National Debt,. It has extensive information on the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). It provides performance reports on the Making Home Affordable Program, which was launched in 2009 as part of TARP and was designed to assist homeowners avoid foreclosure. Includes the Office of Thrift Supervision, the successor to the Federal Home Loan Bank Board, the primary federal regulator of all federal and state-chartered savings institutions that belong to the Savings Association Insurance Fund (SAIF).

Statistical Information

The following external websites, statistical information, and reports provide information on demographics, statistics, and other data related to the U.S. real estate industry.

Housing statistics handbook. Housing and Home Finance Agency, Office of Housing Economics
Call Number: Call Number: HD7293 .A5 1948
This handbook contains mostly urban or non-farm rural statistics. It includes foreclosure data, housing supply/need, residential construction costs, housing finance, occupancy/vacancy, building permits, number of rooms, rent/owner occupied. Most data is from around 1946, although some data goes back to the 1920's. Race and household size data is included. Electronic copy from HathiTrust External

Federal Housing Finance Agency Data Sets
This site provides data sets on Federal Home Loan Bank Member Data, Federal Home Loan Stress Tests for Market and Credit Risk, House Price Index, Market Data on mortgages and mortgage related securities, the National Mortgage Database Aggregate Date, the National Survey of Mortgage Originations Public Use File, Multifamily data, Federal Loan Bank Data, and Underserved Areas Data.
Federal Reserve Archival System for Economic Research (FRASER)
FRASER is a digital library of U.S. economic, financial, and banking history organized by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. It focuses on the history of the Federal Reserve System. Includes studies, statistical releases, books, statements and speeches on monetary policy and real estate investment, commercial real estate, mortgages, and construction.
Historical Housing Data, U.S. Census Bureau
Historical housing data are provided by the U.S. Census Bureau and other agencies, including the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae). It includes 60 years of decennial censuses, construction history tables, historical housing vacancy and ownership rates, housing patterns, U.S. Housing and Urban Development Thematic Maps, and Fannie Mae Research and Analysis.
Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) Aggregation Master Data, Harvard Dataverse
The Pre-1990 HMDA Aggregation Data were prepared annually during this period by the FFIEC on behalf of institutions reporting HMDA data. The Aggregation Data consists of home purchase and home improvement loans that a depository institution originated or purchased during each calendar year. The collected HMDA data were individually aggregated up to the tract level by the reporting depository institution and submitted accordingly to the FFIEC. Individual records are the summary of loan activity for the specified respondent mostly by census tract. . The 1988 and 1989 Aggregation Data files include aggregated data from nondepository institutions, specifically mortgage banking subsidiaries of bank holding companies.
House Price Index
The FHFA House Price Index (HPI) is a broad measure of the movement of single-family house prices. The HPI is a weighted, repeat-sales index, meaning that it measures average price changes in repeat sales or refinancing on the same properties. This information is obtained by reviewing repeat mortgage transactions on single-family properties whose mortgages have been purchased or securitized by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac since January 1975. The HPI serves as a timely, accurate indicator of house price trends at various geographic levels. Because of the breadth of the sample, it provides more information than is available in other house price indexes. It also provides housing economists with an improved analytical tool that is useful for estimating changes in the rates of mortgage defaults, prepayments and housing affordability in specific geographic areas.
National Association of Home Builders External
New and existing home sales reports and statistics, including starts and permits, lumber prices, home sales, and mortgage rates.
Statistical Abstracts Series, U.S. Census Bureau
The Statistical Compendia program is comprised of the Statistical Abstract of the United States and its supplemental products—the State and Metropolitan Area Data Book and the County and City Data Book. Data available ranges from our most recent edition to the historical abstracts compiled throughout the decades. Mortgage, and foreclosure data can be found in the “Banking, Finance, and Insurance” section. The Farm section contains information on farm land and all other properties data. Data in the Historical Statistics of the United State Millennial edition only goes back to 1926. Vols. for 1878-1902 issued by: the Bureau of Statistics (Dept. of the Treasury); 1903-1911 by: the Bureau of Statistics (Dept. of Commerce and Labor); 1912-1937 by: the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce; 1938-1997 by: the Bureau of the Census; 1998- by: U.S. Census Bureau. Available online from Hathi Trust External available at the Library of Congress under call number. Print copies available at the Library of Congress under call number HA202.
Statistical Abstracts Series, U.S. Census Bureau
The Statistical Compendia program is comprised of the Statistical Abstract of the United States and its supplemental products—the State and Metropolitan Area Data Book and the County and City Data Book. Data available ranges from our most recent edition to the historical abstracts compiled throughout the decades. Mortgage, and foreclosure data can be found in the “Banking, Finance, and Insurance” section. The Farm section contains information on farm land and all other properties data. Data in the Historical Statistics of the United State Millennial edition only goes back to 1926. Vols. for 1878-1902 issued by: the Bureau of Statistics (Dept. of the Treasury); 1903-1911 by: the Bureau of Statistics (Dept. of Commerce and Labor); 1912-1937 by: the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce; 1938-1997 by: the Bureau of the Census; 1998- by: U.S. Census Bureau. Available online from Hathi Trust External available at the Library of Congress under call number. Print copies available at the Library of Congress under call number HA202.