The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage is due for an overhaul, according to a proposal published by the Federal Reserve. Members of the Fed’s research staff suggest that banks should offer a type of mortgage with no downpayment requirements that essentially automatically refinances. Wayne Passmore, senior adviser in the Fed’s division of research and statistics, and Alexander von Hafften, a senior research assistant in the division, authored a working paper published by the Fed last week. Passmore and von Hafften cited...
The government-sponsored enterprises’ holdings of vintage nonprime mortgages declined somewhat more quickly than usual in the second quarter of 2017, according to an analysis by Inside Nonconforming Markets. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac held a combined $123.73 billion of nonprime purchased/guaranteed mortgages and mortgage-backed securities at the end of June, down 7.6 percent from March. Compared with June 2016, their holdings were down by 23.2 percent. The GSEs’ nonprime holdings are...[Includes one data table]
First-time homebuyers accounted for $170.3 billion of securitized purchase mortgages during the first half of 2017, according to an Inside FHA/VA Lending analysis of loan-level data for mortgage-backed securities issued by Ginnie mae, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Purchase-mortgage origination to first-time homebuyers was up 15.7 percent year-over-year and comprised 50.3 percent of total purchase-mortgage loans securitized during the six-month period. FHA accounted for 36.8 percent ($61.4 billion) of first-time homebuyer purchase mortgages delivered into agency pools from beginning to midyear, while conventional purchase mortgages with private mortgage insurance accounted for 28.3 percent ($48.3 billion) over the same period. FHA and private MI are the two leading mortgage insurers for first-time homebuyers. Together, they have provided mortgage insurance for nearly ... [Charts]
Pollock criticized the Treasury Department’s decision to pay off $13.5 billion of subordinate GSE debt at the start of the conservatorships nine years ago...
The day before, Cherry Creek Mortgage issued a statement saying it would extend health care benefits to cover same-sex couples “effective immediately.”