Refinance mortgages accounted for 80.1 percent of agency production back in 2012, but that declined to 65.6 percent last year and just 45.3 percent of fourth-quarter business.

Fannie Mae this week priced its second capital markets risk-sharing transaction, offering a total of $750 million in tranches for sale based off a reference pool of $29.31 billion in agency mortgages. The deal uses the same synthetic structure seen on previous risk-sharing transactions from the government-sponsored enterprises. Edward DeMarco, the former acting director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, had been pushing the GSEs to issue risk-sharing deals using a senior-subordinate structure that would not be eligible for the to-be announced market. With Mel Watt now the director of the FHFA, non-TBA risk-sharing transactions from the GSEs could be even less likely. Laurel Davis, vice president for credit risk transfer at Fannie, said...

The mortgage industry is once again at a crossroad. What will save lenders? Answer: cash-out refis, non-QM loans, and 80-10-10s.

Certain members of Congress want the Fair Isaac "lock" on GSE credit scores to be broken.

It’s likely that little in the way of money is changing hands on the deal. By selling the MSRs to Fannie, Citi is also settling the payment of “compensatory” fee claims the GSE is owed by the bank.

According to figures compiled by Inside Mortgage Finance, Flagstar is the nation’s second largest wholesale/broker lender. It also has a fairly large presence in the warehouse market.

Last week’s appointment of four special advisors to the Federal Housing Finance Agency by new Director Mel Watt has primed speculation of a policy-course correction at the FHFA but specific changes remain anyone’s guess, say industry observers. Watt added three current and former Obama administration officials into the agency’s fold “to provide counsel on policy and strategic decisions” at the agency while retaining an advisor from former FHFA Acting Director Edward DeMarco’s tenure. Two of the posts appear to represent new areas of focus for the agency – consumers and industry relations – that were often friction points under DeMarco. Bob Ryan, a former Freddie Mac executive, joins...

Ginnie Mae is telling sellers of mortgage servicing rights – and their advisors – that it wants upwards of 90 days to approve MSR transfers compared to just 30 currently. The agency gave seller/servicers a heads-up on the longer approval times in late November at an “education summit” in Washington attended by both new and existing issuers. A copy of Ginnie’s presentation was provided to Inside Mortgage Finance. Advisory sources said...[Includes one data chart]

Expect Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac shareholders to continue to clamor for attention and satisfaction this year whether or not the Obama administration and lawmakers confront claims that the government-sponsored enterprises should share their profits with investors, say industry observers. Late last week, Sen. Bob Corker, R-VA, sought to walk back comments he made regarding GSE shareholder rights while speaking at a policy forum in Washington, DC. Corker said that he and other lawmakers drafting an enhanced GSE reform bill in the Senate recognize that shareholder claims “have to be dealt with.” Following news of Corker’s remark, GSE preferred shares posted...

The latest risk-sharing transaction from Fannie Mae references a $29.31 billion pool of mortgages.