Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac generated $182.2 billion of new single-family mortgage-backed securities during the final three months of 2013, their lowest quarterly output since the third quarter of 2011, according to a new Inside Mortgage Finance analysis and ranking. Fourth-quarter volume for the two government-sponsored enterprises was down 36.1 percent from the previous quarter, with Fannie posting the bigger decline, 36.8 percent. Freddie volume in the final three months of the year was off 34.7 percent from the third quarter, which helped modestly boost its share of the GSE market to 35.2 percent. For the year, Freddie accounted...[Includes three data charts]
MGIC's stock is trading near a 52-week high of $8.82 a share. The company, like the rest of the sector, is anxiously waiting on new capital-to-risk standards from FHFA.
The Federal Housing Finance Agency via Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is preparing new eligibility standards for mortgage-insurance firms and plans to show a first draft of the rules to state insurance regulators, Inside Mortgage Finance has learned. Private MIs may not get a peek at the rules until sometime in March. Also, insurance regulators may be required to sign a non-disclosure agreement with the FHFA or the government-sponsored enterprises regarding the content they see. Among other things, the eligibility standards will establish...
Official Washington and mortgage-industry observers expect some near-term flux as new Federal Housing Finance Director Mel Watt adjusts to his job and works to make the conservator and regulator of the government-sponsored enterprises his own. The former North Carolina Congressman was sworn in Monday to a five-year term as the FHFAs new director. Watt replaces Acting Director Edward DeMarco, who was appointed as interim agency head following the resignation of FHFA Director James Lockhart in August 2009. The 20-year veteran House Democrat had been expected...
The mergers-and-acquisitions market is expected to be robust this year thanks to falling loan production, which likely will force weaker players in the mortgage industry to align with stronger partners. But now theres another reason why M&A activity could be brisk: new servicing rules from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. According to industry officials and Fitch Ratings, new servicing rules will drive up compliance costs for all servicers, but smaller players including community banks and nonbanks could see their profits erode as they increase spending to stay compliant. In a new report, Fitch writes...
State attorneys general and officials at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau suggest that their settlement in December with Ocwen Financial doesnt end their quest to reform the industry. We are not out of the woods yet, and we will not be until all mortgage servicers understand that they must step up and toe the line, said Richard Cordray, the director of the CFPB. The top five servicers have now agreed...
When the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was working on the definition for qualified mortgages, some warned the regulator that only QMs would be available after the standards took effect. However, with the QM era set to begin Friday, a number of lenders will offer non-QMs even though such originations will come with increased liability. While interest-only mortgages dont meet QM criteria, the loans will continue to be offered by lenders large and small. The government-sponsored enterprises wont buy them, so the originations will be left to portfolio lenders and those with non-agency sales outlets. We will continue making...
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac ended 2013 with several multi-million dollar settlements of buyback claims related to pre-crisis loans, completing a review of such loans mandated by their regulator. The Federal Housing Finance Agency directed Fannie and Freddie to complete their reviews of pre-conservatorship loan acquisitions and buyback demands by the end of 2013. Completing the rep-and-warrant reviews, the FHFA said was vital to restore confidence in marketplace norms and practices and accelerate the resolution of outstanding claims. Fannie, Freddie and their regulator, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, have been dogged...
With a handful of pivotal mortgage lending and servicing rules from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau going live at the end of this week, industry representatives have been readying themselves to cross the threshold while not quite certain about how complete compliance is going to be or how much access to mortgage credit might be crimped. Of the four rules that kick in on Jan. 10 those dealing with ability-to-repay/qualified mortgages, loan originator compensation, mortgage servicing, and high-cost mortgages clearly the ATR rule continues to consume most of the oxygen in the room. One of the biggest points of uncertainty has to do...