Recent and impending changes to FHA program requirements have shifted purchase-mortgage activity to other sources, according to industry analysts. While the FHA remains the go-to financing method for borrowers who can only provide a 3.5 percent downpayment, conventional financing with a 5.0 percent downpayment is seen as more favorable for qualified borrowers. Beginning April 1, the annual FHA mortgage insurance premium will increase by 10 basis points for purchase mortgages, following a number of other premium increases in recent years. FHA financing accounted...

Freddie Mac hit an earnings home run in the fourth quarter, a sign that the GSE is "back." Fannie Mae may report early next week.

MBS guaranty fees charged by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac would not have to increase by much from current levels to shift risk to the private sector, according to a new analysis by Andrew Davidson & Co. However, if policymakers looking to reduce the market share of the government-sponsored enterprises want to expand credit availability beyond the tight standards in the GSE market, g-fees will have to increase significantly. Fannie Mae reported that the average effective g-fee in its third quarter 2012 business was 41.8 basis points, and the GSEs raised their fees by 10 bps during the fourth quarter of last year. A report this week from the Bipartisan Policy Center Housing Commission proposed...

With upwards of $15 billion in nonperforming mortgages expected to be sold at auction this year – and with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac entering the market – securitizations of these problem loans could take off during the next few quarters. To date, there has been little information about nonperforming securitizations, though a handful of private deals have been issued over the past 18 months, market sources told Inside MBS & ABS. “Deals are getting done...

The proposed “Public Guarantor” to replace the government-sponsored enterprises would not only provide an explicit backstop for qualifying MBS in a post-GSE world, it would also serve as a regulator of sorts under terms spelled out in a housing policy paper issued this week. The report by the Bipartisan Policy Center’s Housing Commission called for a “far greater role” for the private sector in the mortgage market, a continued but limited role for the federal government, the graduated elimination of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and reform of the FHA. The BPC’s plan calls for...

Residential fundings are starting to slow as refinancings wane, according to interviews conducted by Inside Mortgage Finance.

Heavy refinance activity, especially through Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, boosted the conventional conforming market by a whopping 35 percent in 2012.

Wells Fargo says it is committed to its remaining joint venture lending partners but isn't giving out any names on the JVs.

According to a new analysis by Inside MBS & ABS, REIT MBS investors as a group increased their MBS holdings by 47.4 percent in 2012.

Milestone Advisors has picked a winning bidder for the MSR portfolio once owned by Taylor, Bean & Whitaker.