(WSJ) -- The U.S. housing market has bottomed but a lack of credit and pending regulation have kept both consumers and lenders from increasing activity in a meaningful way, Lewis Ranieri, a widely followed investor and pioneer of the mortgage-backed securities market, said at a conference Monday. Mr. Ranieri, who runs a variety of mortgage businesses that cover loan servicing, distressed investments and new originations, said his firm is taking advantage of the current market conditions with loan purchases. Loan buyers run the risk that home prices continue to fall, harming returns should the assets be sold. “Many, myself included, think we are at the bottom,” Mr. Ranieri said at a conference of the Mortgage Bankers Association in New York. From the perspective of his firms, “we can’t buy loans fast enough,” he said. Read full article from WSJ
