More lenders will be able to make mortgage loans to rural homebuyers due to sweeping changes made by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to its single-family home loan guaranty program. Published in the Dec. 9 Federal Register, the changes are part of a broad program overhaul to strengthen rural housing markets, increase the availability of rural home loans and spur the construction of new homes in rural areas. The changes in the interim final rule will take effect on Sept. 1, 2014, and are likely to draw more prospective homebuyers to the program, the agency said. Commenters have until Jan. 8 to ...

Ginnie Mae home mortgage debt outstanding fell by a whisper in the third quarter of 2013 while FHA servicers reported a slight drop in overall delinquencies and an uptick in the foreclosure rate, according to Inside FHA Lending’s analysis of government-backed servicing data. As of Sept. 30, Ginnie Mae’s single-family servicing was down 0.2 percent from the previous quarter but was up 4.1 percent from the same period last year. Ginnie servicers ended the third quarter with $1.35 trillion in servicing outstanding. Although banks continued to dominate Ginnie servicing, the agency has been concerned with the ... [2 charts]

The FHA is working to create a quality-assurance framework with enhanced reporting built around QA results as well as a refined approach to identifying underwriting defects, according to a top agency official. There is much uncertainty in the mortgage market today and one way to address that is to create a clear framework for lenders explaining FHA’s view of underwriting defects, how they are defined as well as their consequences, said Charles Coulter, deputy assistant secretary for housing with the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Speaking at the recent Mortgage Bankers Association annual convention, Coulter said the ...

The FHA’s effort to reduce its presence in the mortgage market to make room for private capital would be derailed if Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac raised their guaranty fees, warned an agency official. Responding to a question during the Mortgage Bankers Association’s annual convention, Charles Coulter, deputy assistant secretary for single-family housing at the Department of Housing and Urban Development, said the FHA is currently “priced appropriately” and sees no need to further increase mortgage insurance premiums. The FHA has lost about 20 percent of its share of originations after five MIP increases in ...

Ginnie Mae is deploying four new applications as part of the agency’s effort to modernize its securitization platform. Current paper-based processes are being converted to electronic submissions and the new applications will be deployed during the fourth quarter of 2013. Issuers and document custodians will be able to use the new applications via the Ginnie Mae Enterprise Portal when they become available. These business applications include requests for pool numbers, request for commitment authority, submission of master agreements; and requests for transfer of issuer responsibility (pool transfer). Users will need an ...

Ginnie Mae issuers reported a 14.0 percent drop in mortgage-backed securities issuances in the third quarter from the previous quarter as refinance activity declined further and home-purchase lending slowed during the period, according to an Inside FHA Lending analysis of Ginnie Mae data. Despite the quarter-over-quarter drop, Ginnie production rose 11.2 percent in the first nine months of 2013. Volume over this period totaled $313.8 million, of which 60.3 percent were FHA loans, 33.9 percent were VA, and 5.2 percent were rural housing loans. Ginnie MBS issuance dropped gradually ... [2 charts]

FY 2013 Actuarial Report to Congress on the State of the MMIF Delayed. Release of the FY 2013 actuarial audit of the FHA Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund will be delayed because of the recent government shutdown, according to a government source. No other details were provided. The FHA recently notified Congress that it would seek a mandatory appropriation of approximately $1.7 billion to bolster its capital reserves for expected future losses. FHA officials said the draw does not suggest anything dire but is simply a matter of ...

The MGIC Investment Corp. reported its second straight profitable quarter in 2013 and another increase in new insurance written. While the numbers may not yet indicate a trend, it certainly appears that the Milwaukee-based mortgage insurer is slowly but consistently showing improvement in its performance since posting a net loss of $246.9 million for the same quarter a year ago. MGIC reported net income of $12.1 million in the third quarter and $12.4 million in the second quarter, compared with a net loss of ...

The FHA was still able to endorse single-family mortgage loans during the first week of the partial government shutdown, although no FHA staff were available to underwrite and approve loans. A significant delay in the processing of new FHA insurance applications might have occurred this week because only 64 employees are still at work in HUD’s Office of Housing, which includes the FHA. HUD said it might need more essential employees per day, on an intermittent basis, to perform key activities. The department expects these calls for reinforcement to ...

The Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago has announced a partnership with Ginnie Mae to issue securities guaranteed by the secondary market agency and backed by home loans originated by member financial institutions. The new conduit product, “MPF Government Mortgage-Backed Securities,” provides another secondary mortgage market outlet for lenders originating mortgages insured by the FHA or guaranteed by the VA or the Rural Housing Service. Low-volume lenders that currently lack direct access to the secondary market are expected to benefit from the new FHLBank program. MPF GMBS would allow lenders to ... [1 chart]