Even though the upfront fee Fannie and Freddie impose on commingled securities has been sharply reduced, some industry watchers argue that it has permanently damaged the market for Supers and REMICs.
FHFA is working on an alternative to the single counterparty fee, triggered by a controversial provision in the new capital rule, that requires the GSEs to hold capital against one another as counterparties.
Fannie’s deemed-issuance ratio for 2022 dropped as the government-sponsored enterprise accounted for a lower share of deliveries to UMBS; MISMO is working to standardize the bid-wanted in competition dataset format.
Will prepayment speeds on agency product continue to decline? No one knows for certain, but the UMBS 2.5 is waiting in the wings to be the new kid in town.
MBS trading is drifting lower in a rising rate environment, but the outlook remains cloudy as mortgage bankers wonder how many more months they have left before refis drain for good. Or will they?