The volume of FHA and VA loans securitized in Ginnie Mae pools declined in 2018, according to an Inside FHA/VA Lending analysis of agency data. [Includes one data chart.]

The wholesale-funded broker is slowly penetrating more deeply in government lending, according to a new Inside FHA/VA Lending analysis. [Includes one data chart.]

The use of the VA home-loan guarantee benefits by servicemembers who are first-time homebuyers has increased 110% from 2007 to 2016 in a significant shift from single-family conventional mortgages, according to a recent report by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

A roundup of stories covering the government mortgage sector.

Lawmakers and mortgage market players are watching whether the Trump administration will petition the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse a circuit court decision extending medical and disability benefits to war veterans who fell ill due to exposure to Agent Orange while serving in the territorial waters of Vietnam.

FHA delinquency rates fell 26.4 basis points between December and January and were down 14.1 bps over an eight-month period ending January, according to the Inside FHA/VA Lending database. [Includes one data chart.]

A Wall Street lobbying group has urged the Department of Veteran Affairs to change its cash-out refinance interim final rule, calling par-ticular attention to the net tangible benefit provision.

Industry representatives are urging the Department of Veterans Affairs to delay an interim final rule on VA cash-out refinance loans for fear that lenders may stop offering the product.

Government-backed originations fell significantly in the fourth quarter of 2018 due to a decline in purchase lending even as year-over-year results reflected the uncertainty in last year’s government-backed mortgage market. [Includes three data charts.]