The supply of mortgage debt outstanding continued to decline in the second quarter of 2011, reaching levels not seen in nearly five years. The Federal Reserve reported that single-family mortgage debt totaled $10.396 trillion as of the end of June, down 0.5 percent from the end of the previous quarter. It marked the 13th consecutive quarterly decline in the mortgage servicing business, which has shrunk by $783.2 billion since peaking in the first quarter of 2008 at $11.179 trillion. The only sector of the market that’s growing is the Ginnie Mae program, where the supply of the agency’s single-family mortgage securities...(Includes one data chart)

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s guarantee fee stucture continued to convey cross-subsidies from lower-risk mortgages to higher-risk mortgages but overall cross-subsidization in 2010 declined from previous years, according to a report from the Federal Housing Finance Agency. The agency said cross-subsidization in single-family guarantee fees charged by the two government-sponsored enterprises remained evident in 2010 across product types, credit score categories and loan-to-value ratio categories. “There were cross-subsidies from mortgages that posed lower credit risk, on average, to loans that posed higher credit risk. The greatest...

Banks, thrifts and credit unions expanded their stakes in the residential MBS market over the first half of 2011 as most other major investor classes pulled back from the market, according to a new analysis by Inside MBS & ABS. But the profile of the MBS investment community will likely continue to change as the Federal Reserve has opted to resume buying agency MBS in an effort to stimulate the economy by pushing long-term interest rates lower. While the result of resumed Fed MBS purchases is uncertain, the Federal Open Market Committee’s decision to reinvest payments on the Fed’s agency MBS back into...(Includes one data chart)

A proposal from federal regulators to change servicer compensation on future Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac MBS to a fee-for-service model could also end up addressing a major investor beef about the non-agency MBS market: poor servicing of distressed loans and misaligned interests. The Federal Housing Finance Agency this week released a discussion paper outlining a radical change from an existing system that pays Fannie and Freddie servicers a minimum servicing fee regardless of the loan status. The proposed system features a low flat fee for handling performing loans with increased compensation for...

Wall Street MBS insiders met this week to talk about making Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac MBS backed by high loan-to-value refinance mortgages eligible for the to-be-announced market. The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association held a telephone conference call to discuss the issue, a SIFMA representative confirmed, but the group declined to provide any details. Mortgages with LTV ratios above 105 percent can be sold to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac under the Home Affordable Refinance Program, but these loans must be pooled in separate MBS that are not eligible for the TBA market. HARP loans with...(Includes one data chart)

The share of mortgage loans that were held in portfolio rather than sold into the secondary market rose for the second consecutive year in 2010, but that may have more to do with the peculiarities of the rules for complying with the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act. A Federal Reserve analysis of the lastest HMDA data found that portfolio lending, especially involving owner-occupied refinance loans, has risen since the beginning of 2009 but is still far short of the levels portfolio lenders achieved in 2004 and 2005. Overall, originators held a total of 1.30 million mortgages in portfolio in 2010, with...

While it will be nice if it materializes, MBS market watchers are taking a wait-and-see posture to the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s professed intention to explore new and alternative methods of sharing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s credit risk with the private sector. In a speech early this week, FHFA Acting Director Edward DeMarco outlined efforts his agency is taking to ramp up private market discipline while reducing Fannie’s and Freddie’s risk to taxpayers. “The FHFA will be considering a number of alternatives, such as expanded use of mortgage insurance and securities structures that allow for...

The supply of MBS in the market edged slightly higher in the second quarter of 2011, appearing to stem a nearly two-year decline in the market, according to a new Inside MBS & ABS analysis. A total of $6.58 trillion of MBS were outstanding at the end of June, up 0.3 percent from the first quarter. The MBS market was still down 1.7 percent from a year ago. All of the growth came from Ginnie Mae and Fannie Mae. The supply of Ginnie single-family MBS rose 4.0 percent in the first quarter, hitting a record $1.12 trillion and extending a vigorous growth trend since the housing market began to unravel in 2007. Ginnie MBS accounted for...(Includes one data chart)

Although the outlines of an expanded Home Affordable Refinance Program are far from clear, MBS analysts say the most likely changes designed to help more borrowers take advantage of record low mortgage rates will not have a disastrous impact on the MBS market. Observers note that there are two ways to expand the potential HARP population: remove the existing chronological restriction (loans made prior to June 2009) or lift the current loan-to-value restriction of 125 percent. The chronological restriction is relevant because a lot of borrowers who have used HARP already could benefit from refinancing again because...

The House this week voted to reject a short-term government spending bill but what’s interesting is what’s not in it: a provision extending the temporary loan limits. While attention is on the possibility of a government shutdown, it appears that a last-ditch effort by the mortgage industry and its allies in Congress to extend the current $729,750 high-cost area loan limit before Sept. 30 has failed. The measure lost by a vote of 195-230 after Democrats withdrew their support and 48 Republicans defied party leaders in protest over spending caps. It would have kept the government operating through...