Agency MBS
Browse articles from all of our Newsletters related to Agency MBS.
May 20, 2013 - IMFnews
The Mortgage Bankers Association wants lower guaranty fees from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac but is willing to barter for them.
May 20, 2013 - IMFnews
MountainView Hits Market with Two More MSR Deals
The bulk servicing market continues to heat up. MountainView is out with two new deals.
May 20, 2013 - IMFnews
Watt FHFA Nomination Hearing Won’t Come Until Mid-June, a ‘Plan B’?
Progressives and other “Dump DeMarco” advocates are looking to a “Plan B” to replace the current acting head should Rep. Mel Watt’s nomination be significantly prolonged or even stall.
May 17, 2013 - Inside FHA Lending
FHA Delinquencies Down, Foreclosure Starts Up
FHA loans saw an improvement in delinquencies even as the mortgage industry reported an increase in the overall delinquency rate for single-family mortgages at the end of the first quarter of 2013, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s latest national delinquency survey. Among loan types, the FHA saw the largest improvement on a seasonally adjusted basis as its delinquency rate dropped to 10.97 percent in the first quarter, down 20 basis points from the previous quarter. This was good news for an agency that has been battling to reduce losses and stabilize its Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund. However, the refreshing change was ...
May 17, 2013 - Inside FHA Lending
FHA Jumbo Production Picks Up in First Quarter
FHA jumbo loan originations increased in the first quarter of 2013 as well as from the same period last year pending hikes in the mortgage insurance premium and the required downpayment on loans above $625,500, according to Inside FHA Lending’s analysis of FHA data. FHA jumbo lenders produced an estimated $5.44 billion in loans over $417,000 during the first three months of the year, up 6.6 percent from the fourth quarter of 2012 and 14.0 percent higher compared to the volume from a year ago. Consumers continued to use the FHA jumbo product despite FHA’s decision to raise the annual mortgage insurance premiums on ... [2 charts]
May 17, 2013 - IMFnews
Hedge funds are paying as much as 20 cents on the dollar for preferred stock in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Meanwhile, the GSE buyback war is not over yet.
May 17, 2013 - IMFnews
Federal Reserve May Dial Back on MBS Purchases Soon
Since the housing bust, the Federal Reserve has purchased roughly $1.1 trillion of MBS backed by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae.
May 17, 2013 - Inside MBS & ABS
Exactly one year after it filed for bankruptcy, Residential Capital announced this week it has entered into a “comprehensive plan support agreement” with its parent, Ally Financial, and ResCap’s creditors, who say they are owed some $25 billion in mortgage liabilities. The plan gets Ally out from under the threat of billions of dollars in lawsuits by settling all existing and potential claims between Ally and ResCap and all potential claims held by third parties related to ResCap that could be brought against Ally and subsidiaries that are not Chapter 11 debtors. The settlement, which is subject to approval by a federal bankruptcy court in Manhattan, fully releases...
May 17, 2013 - Inside MBS & ABS
Fed Seems One Step Closer to Pulling Back as Market Reps, Analysts Read the Tea Leaves and Prepare
The Federal Reserve’s MBS purchase party isn’t over – yet – but it looks like the nation’s central bank is getting nearer to the last call. Late last week, the Wall Street Journal reported that officials at the nation’s central bank have developed a strategy for dialing back their unprecedented level of support of the housing market. The plan involves reducing the amount of bonds the Fed buys “in careful and potentially halting steps,” the WSJ said, with the purchases varying on the read officials have of the job market and of inflation. And although the timing of the Fed’s wind-down is...
May 17, 2013 - Inside MBS & ABS
Experts: Credit-Linked Notes Would Permit the GSEs’ MBS Programs, TBA Market to Continue
Risk-sharing transactions using credit-linked notes may be one path toward the goal of getting the government-sponsored enterprises out of conservatorship, experts told members of the Senate Banking Subcommittee on Securities, Insurance and Investment this week. The current GSE MBS market provides trillions of dollars of financing to the mortgage market while government guaranties and other structural features are required to maintain this market, according to Andrew Davidson, president of Andrew Davidson & Co. “As any part of GSE reform, I believe...
May 17, 2013 - IMFnews
REITs Saw Modest Decline in MBS Holdings in 1Q13
Real estate investment trusts are beginning to scale back their investments in MBS. Meanwhile, some are hunting for MSRs.
May 17, 2013 - Inside MBS & ABS
With $2 Billion Committed, Shellpoint Readies Its First MBS Backed by ‘Super Prime’ Loans
Shellpoint Acceptance Corp. hopes to come to market with its first non-agency MBS by summer, securitizing not only jumbo loans, but a host of mortgages that fall outside Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac underwriting guidelines for different reasons. According to a recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the company has committed $2 billion in capital to its shelf registration, though its first deal will be smaller than that. Shellpoint refers...
May 17, 2013 - Inside MBS & ABS
Freddie to Sell Some Non-Agency MBS Holdings As Pricing Increases Along with FHFA Mandate
Freddie Mac is offering $1.0 billion of its non-agency MBS holdings for sale, according to a spokesman for the government-sponsored enterprise, part of efforts to meet requirements set by the Federal Housing Finance Agency. Fannie Mae also plans asset sales of some sort, but wouldn’t commit to selling its non-agency MBS holdings. Freddie held $70.28 billion in non-agency MBS at the end of the first quarter of 2013 and Fannie held $31.22 billion. The GSEs purchased the non-agency MBS before 2009 and have allowed the holdings to run off ever since. The FHFA recently required...
May 17, 2013 - Inside MBS & ABS
Some Agreement Among Non-Agency Participants On Rating Rotation in Lieu of Franken Proposal
While non-agency MBS participants largely oppose a credit rating assignment system proposed by Sen. Al Franken, D-MN, some of the main players in the market endorse a model based on ratings rotation. At a roundtable hosted by the Securities and Exchange Commission this week, Martin Hughes, CEO of Redwood Trust, said issuer-paid rating conflicts could be reduced by requiring non-agency MBS issuers to alternate rating services so that one firm didn’t rate more than two consecutive deals from the issuer. He noted that Redwood has established a self-imposed rotation between Moody’s Investors Service and Standard & Poor’s on its non-agency MBS issuance. “The requirement to frequently alternate among the nationally recognized...
May 16, 2013 - Inside Mortgage Finance
U.S.’s Aggressive Use of FCA Rejected in GSE Loan Case, But Claims Under FIRREA Allowed to Proceed
Efforts by the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York to use the False Claims Act to recoup $1 billion in losses suffered by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have suffered a big setback. Last week, U.S. District Court Judge Jed Rakoff dismissed claims for treble damages and penalties the federal government brought under the FCA against Bank of America as successor to Countrywide Financial for allegedly selling defective loans to the two government-sponsored enterprises while representing that the mortgages complied with their requirements. The government asserted...
May 16, 2013 - Inside Mortgage Finance
Robust Compliance Strategy Will be Critical in Successfully Navigating the CFPB’s QM Waters
The ability-to-repay rule promulgated by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is perhaps the single most important mortgage-related regulation the CFPB will produce under the Dodd-Frank Act, and mortgage lenders will need a vigorous and comprehensive strategy if they are going to make qualified mortgages profitably while maintaining the desired level of legal protection. But before lenders get to the compliance pieces of the QM puzzle, they’ve got to figure out “how to get to QM” and what types of loans they want to make. “We’re assuming...
May 16, 2013 - Inside Mortgage Finance
Speculators in Fannie/Freddie Junior Preferred Shares Could Be Dreaming, Or Maybe Not
Over the past few weeks, speculators have been driving up the price of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac common stock and “trust” preferred shares in the hope of a payoff somewhere down the line. But according to interviews conducted by Inside Mortgage Finance, the only payoff might come if they can find someone else willing to pay more than they did for stock that is considered virtually worthless. Industry lobbyists, former government-sponsored enterprise executives and some investors say...
May 16, 2013 - Inside Mortgage Finance
More GSE Business in Multi-Issuer Pools as Smaller Lenders Cope With Depleted Correspondent Channel
More Fannie Mae mortgage business is ending up in multi-issuer pools as more lenders turn to direct sales to the government-sponsored enterprise, and experts say the company has been able to turn the trend to its advantage in the securities market. According to a new loan-level analysis of single-family mortgage-backed securities by Inside Mortgage Finance, some 39.1 percent of Fannie’s MBS production in the first quarter of 2013 was in multi-issuer pools. That compared to 30.0 percent, by dollar volume, of the GSE’s MBS issuance back in the first quarter of last year. Single-seller pools, generated mostly by the giants of the mortgage lending industry, continue...
May 16, 2013 - Inside Mortgage Finance
Fannie Mae and Bank of America resolved a huge portion of the whopping $19.04 billion in disputed buyback requests facing the mortgage industry at the beginning of 2013, but both government-sponsored enterprises will remain aggressive in hunting for repurchase opportunities. In fact, new repurchase requests increased by a whopping 87.8 percent in the first three months of this year compared to the fourth quarter of 2012, reaching a record $12.14 billion, according to an analysis of GSE quarterly reports by Inside Mortgage Finance. The biggest increase was at Fannie Mae, where new buyback requests soared to $9.91 billion, while Freddie Mac reported a more modest 5.2 percent increase. The jump in new buyback demands occurred...[Includes one data chart]
May 16, 2013 - Inside Mortgage Finance
All three pistons in the mortgage origination engine slowed down during the first quarter of 2013, but retail production came closest to keeping the pace in a declining market, according to a new analysis and ranking by Inside Mortgage Finance. Lenders produced an estimated $310.0 billion in originations through retail offices, bank branches, call centers and online activities during the first three months of 2013. That was down 0.9 percent from the previous quarter, but because overall production slipped 4.8 percent, the retail share of the market surged to a record 62.0 percent. The wholesale channel – both correspondent and broker – accounted...[Includes four data charts]
May 16, 2013 - IMFnews
One investor paid $100,000 per unit for a special class of Fannie Mae preferred.
May 16, 2013 - IMFnews
Essent, the number-five player in mortgage insurance, has received ratings from both S&P and Moody's.
May 16, 2013 - IMFnews
Hedge Funds Gobbling up Fannie/Freddie Common and Preferred
Are investors making a big mistake by speculating in Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac common and preferred?
May 16, 2013 - IMFnews
FHFA Rule Reserves Compensation Veto Over Fannie, Freddie Executives
The interim final rule authorizes the FHFA to review compensation of an executive officer at any of the GSEs.
May 15, 2013 - IMFnews
Why is the share price of Fannie Mae's junior preferred stock rising so much? Also, send Freddie Mac "back to the future"?
May 15, 2013 - IMFnews
Slight Increase in G-Fees Would Equalize Agency/Non-Agency Pricing
Guaranty fees need to be raised by roughly 10 basis points in order for the pricing between agency and non-agency deals to be comparable, according to a new report.
May 14, 2013 - IMFnews
If. Sen. Franken has his way, the MBS rating system will change. Meanwhile, top executives at Impac Mortgage clean up.
May 14, 2013 - IMFnews
Freddie Streamlined Modification Program to Boost MI Sector
A new modification program from Freddie Mac also will pay mortgage servicers $1,400 per unit for each successful loan restructuring.
May 14, 2013 - IMFnews
FHFA Called on to Turn Jumbo Market Over to Non-Agency Sector
One mortgage expert warns that lowering GSE loan limits one step at a time to $417,000 could leave parts of the residential market underserved.
May 14, 2013 - IMFnews
GSE Mortgage Portfolios Continued to Shrink in First Quarter
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are continuing to shrink their retained portfolios as mandated by their regulator.
May 13, 2013 - IMFnews
Investment funds are continuing to salivate over mortgage servicing rights.
May 13, 2013 - IMFnews
Forecasters Predict an Origination Swoon in 2013
Although 2013 will turn out to be a decent year in terms of residential production, next year could be quite ugly.
May 13, 2013 - IMFnews
IMA Closes Two Large Bulk MSR Sales
Investors have stepped up to the plate, buying new large bulk MSRs put out for auction by Interactive Mortgage Advisors.
May 10, 2013 - Inside The GSEs
CBO: GSE Writedowns Could Save Taxpayers Money
GSE principal reduction could end up saving the government money but its reach to additional distressed borrowers would be limited, according to a report by the Congressional Budget Office. Expanding Fannie Mae’s and Freddie Mac’s loan modification policy to include principal forgiveness under the current Home Affordable Modification Program would probably generate fewer than 60,000 additional modifications, concluded the CBO report published last week.
May 10, 2013 - Inside The GSEs
FHFA Seeks Public Input for Database Survey
The Federal Housing Finance Agency is calling for public comments to weigh in on its planned survey of borrowers as part of a joint effort with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to build and maintain a database of government mortgage information. The planned National Survey of Mortgage Borrowers will be a quarterly survey of recent first-time borrowers of single-family mortgages. “The survey questionnaire will be sent to approximately 7,000 new mortgage borrowers each calendar quarter and will consist of approximately 80-85 multiple choice and short-answer questions designed to obtain information about individual residential mortgage borrowers that is not available elsewhere,” explained the FHFA in its recent Federal Register notice.
May 10, 2013 - Inside The GSEs
FHFA: GSE Common Securitzation Platform ‘On Track’
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are “on track” in their conservator-mandated effort to create a common mortgage-backed security securitization platform even as the GSEs also draft standard contracts and disclosures for the MBS market of the future, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency. The “progress report” that the FHFA issued last week was more of an outline of public comments it has received so far on what the agency and the GSEs have already proposed on the scope, design and construction of a common securitization platform and the progress of a CSP prototype. “The design is deliberately flexible so that the long-term ownership structure may be adjusted to meet the goals and direction that policymakers set forth for housing finance reform,” the report said. “Importantly, FHFA plans on instituting a formal structure to allow for ongoing input from industry participants.”
May 10, 2013 - Inside The GSEs
GSE Earnings Soar in 1Q, Fannie Claims DTA
Fannie Mae hit an earnings home run in the first quarter while revealing that it has released $50.6 billion in “deferred tax assets,” an allowance that sets up a massive cash payment to the U.S. Treasury by the end of June. Fannie estimates that based on a net worth of $62.4 billion at March 31, it will have a dividend obligation to Treasury of $59.4 billion, a cash payment that appears all but certain. Following an edict from Treasury last summer, the GSEs cannot build retained earnings and can only maintain a small “buffer” of net worth. The rest of their earnings must be given to Treasury, which controls their preferred stock.
May 10, 2013 - Inside The GSEs
Fannie Settles Decade-Long Shareholder Fraud Suit
Fannie Mae and its former auditor KPMG LLP have agreed to pay $153 million to resolve a long-simmering class action lawsuit brought by investors seeking to recover damages, according to an announcement Tuesday by Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine. Two Ohio pension funds – the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System and the State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio – filed suit in 2004 related to a $6.3 billion overstatement of earnings against Fannie and three former GSE executives, including then-CEO Franklin Raines.
May 10, 2013 - Inside The GSEs
GSEs to Purchase Only ‘Qualified Mortgages’ in 2014
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will no longer purchase loans that are interest-only, loans with 40-year terms or loans with points and fees exceeding the thresholds of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s “ability to repay” rule, the Federal Housing Finance Agency announced this week. The FHFA said it is directing the GSEs to limit their future mortgage acquisitions to loans that meet the requirements for a qualified mortgage, including those that meet the special or temporary qualified mortgage definition, and loans that are exempt from the CFPB’s “ability to repay” requirements under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.
May 10, 2013 - Inside The GSEs
IBM Working on ‘Data Center’ for GSEs, More?
Fannie Mae is working on what it calls an “out-of-region” data center with IBM, which will make the GSE’s business “more resilient,” a spokesman for the secondary market giant told Inside The GSEs. The official noted that eventually IBM will “assume some data center activities” but provided little in the way of details on the matter. The comments about the data center came after weeks of rumors that IBM had landed a huge outsourcing contract with Fannie. The GSE acknowledged the data center work.
May 10, 2013 - Inside The GSEs
Rep. Watt for FHFA Director Faces Long Odds
Whether or not President Obama’s pick to become the new permanent director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency overcomes the long odds and expected Republican opposition to win Senate confirmation, it’s a win-win for the White House, say industry observers. Last week, Rep. Mel Watt, D-NC, a 20-year House veteran, all of it spent serving on the Financial Services Committee, was selected by Obama to become the new FHFA director, replacing FHFA Acting Director Edward DeMarco, who has served as the agency’s acting head since September 2009. Although Watt had been on the short list of FHFA nominees, it was widely believed that Moody’s Analytics’ Chief Economist Mark Zandi would be the president’s pick, largely because Zandi was seen as “confirmable” by both Democrats and Republicans.
May 10, 2013 - IMFnews
Will investors in GSE stock sue the federal government for "sweeping" earnings out of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac? Meanwhile, PennyMac worries about its "Countrywide" problem.
May 10, 2013 - IMFnews
CBO Says GSE Principal Forgiveness Could Reduce Additional Defaults
Although it's unlikely that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will engage in principal reductions anytime soon, a new report from CBO says it could do some good.
May 10, 2013 - IMFnews
Potential Investors Jockey for Position in Coming GSE Risk-Sharing Derby
The first GSE risk sharing transaction is likely to be a senior-subordinate structure and be issued as a credit-linked note.
May 10, 2013 - IMFnews
Ginnie Mae at Work on Plan to Consolidate MBS
Ginnie Mae President Ted Tozer said the agency wants to phase out the Ginnie I MBS program.
May 10, 2013 - Inside MBS & ABS
Fannie Mae’s and Freddie Mac’s multifamily businesses hold “little inherent value” and would be less viable absent the government guarantees the two government-sponsored enterprises currently enjoy, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency. In a new report, the agency also noted that the sale of the GSEs’ multifamily businesses would yield “little or no value” to the U.S. Treasury or to taxpayers, while at the same time it could be a huge disruption to the commercial real estate markets. “The new ‘stand-alone’ businesses would primarily depend...
May 10, 2013 - Inside MBS & ABS
GSE Mortgage Portfolios Continued to Shrink In Early 2013, Asset Sales to Come This Year
The retained mortgage portfolios of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac continued to decline through natural attrition during the first quarter of 2013, falling by 4.9 percent from the previous quarter, according to an Inside MBS & ABS analysis of earnings reports released by the two government-sponsored enterprises this week. Fannie and Freddie held $1.13 trillion in mortgage assets as of the end of March. With heavy refinance activity, the rate of decline in early 2013 was faster than it had been; GSE holdings were down 13.6 percent from year-ago levels. There was...[Included one data chart]
May 10, 2013 - Inside MBS & ABS
Ginnie Mae at Work on Plan to Consolidate MBS Programs, MBA Pushes Fungible GSE Securities
Ginnie Mae officials have moved beyond whether they should consolidate the agency’s two MBS programs to how they should do it, but it remains much less certain that similar proposals to restructure the Fannie/Freddie market will take root. The newer Ginnie II MBS program has become significantly more popular than the original Ginnie I security, both in terms of new issuance and the outstanding supply of securities. Speaking at the Mortgage Bankers Association secondary market conference in New York this week, Ginnie President Ted Tozer said...
May 9, 2013 - Inside Mortgage Finance
Lenders, already facing the legal risks due to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s ability-to-repay rule, may face further problems trying to make sure loans originated for sale to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac can actually be delivered to the government-sponsored enterprises. The Federal Housing Finance Agency this week said the GSEs will be prohibited from buying anything other than qualified mortgages, as that term is defined by the ATR rule. The directive rules out interest-only loans – Fannie has purchased a smattering of these loans but Freddie shut down its IO program a while ago – and mortgages with terms exceeding 30 years, a product neither GSE buys. The troublemaker in the policy is...
May 9, 2013 - Inside Mortgage Finance
CBO Report: Expanded Fannie, Freddie Principal Forgiveness Could Reduce Some Additional Defaults
Expanding Fannie Mae’s and Freddie Mac’s loan modification policy to include principal forgiveness under the Home Affordable Modification Program would generate fewer than 60,000 additional modifications and avoid up to 100,000 defaults, according to the Congressional Budget Office. The Congressional numbers-cruncher concluded that reaching additional borrowers “would require a significant departure” from HAMP’s current eligibility rules. In 2010, the Treasury Department expanded...
Webinars
Industry Reports
Poll
Most Popular Stories
- Caliber Enters the Correspondent Channel, Taps PennyMac Executive
- Home-Equity Market Still in Doldrums Despite Small Climb in Bank Unfunded Commitments
- No Private Right of Action Under HAMP, Appellate Court Rules
- What We’re Hearing: The Great GSE Preferred Stock Crapshoot / CBO Gives a Nod to Fannie and Freddie / The Buyback War is Not Over, Not By a Long Shot / Are Call Center Lenders In Play? / The QRM Rule May Get a Makeover / Goodman Going Part-Time at Amherst
- Subprime Lender Deephaven Searching for Warehouse Lines
