A significant chunk of the big fourth-quarter increase in agency MSR transfers came from Freedom Mortgage's acquisition of RoundPoint Mortgage Servicing. But total servicing transfers for 2020 fell well short of recent years. (Includes three data charts.)
Banks and credit unions increased their mortgage production from the second to the third quarter, but not nearly as fast as state-licensed nonbanks. (Includes data chart.)
A number of top nonbank servicers saw significant increases in their Fannie/Freddie servicing portfolios, while most big banks saw declines. The GSE market continued to fragment. (Includes two data charts.)
Private MIs were particularly strong in the purchase-loan market, with annual GSE sales of $366.87 billion — which represented 51.0% of all insured purchase loans securitized by the agencies...
ABS issuance rebounded from COVID-related market disruption in the third quarter but lost momentum in the fourth quarter to end 2020 down 11% from the previous year. (Includes two data charts.)
Private mortgage insurance accounted for over half of insured loans sold the agencies last year, while the VA overtook the FHA as the top government-insurance program. (Includes three data charts.)
In January of last year, the flow of VA loans into Ginnie MBS exceeded the volume of FHA loans, a trend that culminated in December, when VA accounted for 57.0% of monthly issuance.
The VA home loan guaranty program accounted for 54% of single-family loans securitized in Ginnie MBS last year, thanks to a roaring refinance program. (Includes four data charts.)
Issuance of prime jumbo non-agency MBS was up in 2020 despite a soft fourth quarter, but the expanded-credit mortgage sector lagged, as did securitization of reperforming loans. (Includes three data charts.)