Before we get to the main event (the ‘Qualified Mortgage’ rule), it’s time to consider the improving fate of Fannie Mae, which is poised to have a few coming quarters of blow-out earnings – which will go directly into the coffers of the U.S. Treasury Department, much to the delight of the newly nominated secretary Jack Lew.
The Mortgage Bankers Association this week launched a new task force to study the future of the GSEs, naming 17 industry executives from residential finance-related firms both large and small. MBA president David Stevens told Inside Mortgage Finance that his goal to have the working group publish a final working paper on what to do with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac by mid-year 2013. “This task force is very inclusive of the industry,” said Stevens.…
Freddie Mac acquired $62.5 billion of mortgages from its seller/servicers in November, its best purchase month since June 2009, according to figures released by the secondary market giant.
The CFPB has responded to a variety of mortgage appraisal issues on two different fronts, publishing a final rule all its own in conjunction with the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, and participating in an interagency rulemaking in the context of the Truth in Lending Act. On the ECOA front, the bureau issued a final rule that requires mortgage lenders to provide applicants with free copies of all appraisals and other home-value estimates, although a lender generally may still charge the consumer a reasonable fee for the cost of conducting the appraisal or other estimate. In essence, then, a lender can charge...
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac saw a noticeable decline in Home Affordable Refinance Program activity during the final months of 2012, according to a new Inside MBS & ABS analysis. At a time when overall refinance business rose 11.0 percent at the two government-sponsored enterprises, deliveries of HARP loans fell 6.9 percent. The biggest decline was in issuance of MBS specifically geared for underwater mortgages. A total of $62.28 billion of high loan-to-value ratio mortgages were securitized...[Includes two data charts]
The massive legal action initiated by the Federal Housing Finance Agency about a year and a half ago on behalf of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac against many of the nation’s biggest non-agency MBS issuers and underwriters for allegedly misrepresenting toxic MBS netted its first settlement this week with the prospect of more where that came from. In papers filed with the U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, the FHFA “voluntarily dismisses with prejudice” its lawsuit against General Electric Co., ending the legal action in which the FHFA had claimed the firm had misled Freddie into purchasing some $549 million of toxic MBS. “This settlement resolves...
Despite a surge in agency MBS issuance in 2012, new production of agency-backed real estate mortgage investment conduits fell 19.4 percent from 2011 levels, according to a new analysis and ranking by Inside MBS & ABS. Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae issued a combined $292.5 billion in REMICs last year, with Fannie accounting for 44.1 percent of the market. Fannie was the only agency of the three to increase its REMIC production compared to 2011 levels, managing a 6.0 percent increase. Agency REMIC volume fell...[Includes one data chart]
Mortgage bankers funded $232.69 billion worth of FHA loans in 2012, a 22 percent jump from the year prior, but the improvement pales in comparison to business gains experienced by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, according to exclusive loan-level data compiled by Inside FHA Lending. By comparison, Fannie grew its business by almost 46 percent last year with Freddie improving loan purchases from seller/servicers by 49 percent. Still, it was FHA’s best quarterly showing ($64.03 billion) since the fourth quarter of 2010 when mortgage lenders originated $72.12 billion of product. And not surprisingly, consumers taking out FHA loans ... [2 charts]
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