Reports Claim Trump Wants Mark Calabria to Run FHFA

Dec 10, 2018

Two news reports published this afternoon have insisted President Trump plans to nominate Mark A. Calabria has the next director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA).

The Wall Street Journal and Politico published separate articles citing unnamed sources that claimed Calabria is in line to take over the FHFA after Director Mel Watt’s term expires in January. Calabria is currently the chief economist for Vice President Mike Pence and was previously Director of Financial Regulation Studies at the Cato Institute. Earlier in his career, he was Deputy Assistant Secretary for Regulatory Affairs at the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Neither Calabria nor the White House publicly commented on these reports.

The FHFA was established under the Federal Housing Finance Regulatory Reform Act of 2008 as the replacement for the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO). James Lockhart, the last director of the OFHEO, served as the first FHFA director until August 2009. The agency was run by Edward DeMarco as an acting director for four years until Watt, a former Democratic Congressman from North Carolina, was confirmed by the Senate in December 2013.

About the author

Phil Hall

Link copied

Published

Dec 10, 2018

Analysis and Data

Jobs Report Comes In Weak After Mortgage Rates Surge

Employers added just 29,000 jobs in September, sending Treasury yields lower and offering a potential counterweight to the recent rise in mortgage rates

The September jobs report gave the mortgage market something it hasn't had much of lately: downward pressure on Treasury yields.U.S. employers added just 29,000 jobs in September, while the unemployment rate edged up to 4.2%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The ...

Wholesale

The Loan Store Rebrands As Averra Financial

The wholesale lender is adopting a new identity three years after acquiring Homepoint’s wholesale business and rising to No. 4 in industry rankings

The Loan Store has a new name after a three-year expansion that transformed the once-small wholesale lender into one of the largest players in the broker channel.The Tucson, Arizona-based lender has rebranded as Averra Financial Inc., effective immediately, the company annou...

Nov

Houston, TX

More from

Analysis and Data

Jobs Report Comes In Weak After Mortgage Rates Surge

Employers added just 29,000 jobs in September, sending Treasury yields lower and offering a potential counterweight to the recent rise in mortgage rates

Analysis and Data

Oct 02, 2026

Price Cuts Hit Four-Year High As Mortgage Rates Top 7%

More than one in five listings took a price cut in September, but pending sales still posted their sharpest annual decline since March 2025

Analysis and Data

Oct 01, 2026

Serious Mortgage Delinquencies Rise 19% After Five Months Of Improvement

ICE data shows 574,000 mortgages were at least 90 days past due in August, while early-stage delinquencies remained below year-ago levels

Analysis and Data

Sep 29, 2026

Smaller Down Payments Give Buyers More Room, But Rates Limit The Savings

The typical down payment fell 9% from a year ago, while shifting market conditions are giving originators different affordability conversations across the country

Analysis and Data

Sep 25, 2026

Mortgage Rates Break 7% Just As Builders Find A Way To Move Buyers

New-home sales rose 6.4% in August as builders cut prices, offered incentives, and sold more lower-priced homes. Now mortgage rates are moving against buyers again

Analysis and Data

Sep 25, 2026

Borrowers Want Digital Closings, But Some Originators Remain Hesitant

ServiceLink finds 45% of surveyed LOs cite borrower reluctance as a barrier, even though most recent buyers say digital options would influence their choice of mortgage provider

Tech

Sep 23, 2026

Popular