Approximately $600 million of refinance loans with a VA guarantee were left stranded on lenders’ balance sheets due to a conflict in Ginnie seasoning requirements that were ushered in with passage of the Dodd-Frank reform act...

According to calculations made by Inside Mortgage Finance, the patch currently accounts for as much as 30% of single-family mortgages purchased by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. 

Steve Harris of MIAC Capital Markets: “I guess this means less risk for the agencies and perhaps more for the private sector."

MBA worries that if the GSE patch expires without any corresponding reforms to "preserve access to credit," the residential mortgage market will be disrupted...

How much do mortgage CEOs at private firms earn each year? We’ve been asking around of late and the answers we received offer a wide range... 

Harvard's Don Layton on creating more competition for Fannie and Freddie: “I have not encountered any knowledgeable people who think it could happen quickly."

Where Fannie and Freddie 'lazy' competitors during the preconservatorship years? Opinions may differ, to say the least...

Back in early June, the share price of Fannie/Freddie common was rallying, reaching $3.16 (for the former) and $3.07 for the latter. If you had bought in at those prices, today you’d be looking at losses of 23.1% and 24.7%, respectively.

In a new opinion piece, former Freddie CEO Don Layton argues against having multiple MBS guarantors, a position he’s taken in the past. Layton, who now bides his time at the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies, argues the barriers to entering the secondary guarantee business are high, “possibly even insurmountable.”

Fannie and Freddie will report second quarter earnings later this month. It's a safe bet that lower rates will translate into some large hedging marks...