September 21, 2017
Latest from Inside Mortgage Finance
Total jumbo originations rose by 11.8 percent from the previous quarter according to estimates from Inside Mortgage Finance
Banks Continue Modest Gains in Mortgage-Production Market Share in Second Quarter, But Not the Giants
Depository institutions have been quietly regaining some market share from nonbanks over the past year, even though some of the largest banks continue to pull back, according to a new analysis and ranking by Inside Mortgage Finance. Banks, savings institutions and credit unions accounted for 51.3 percent of the $356.85 billion of first-lien mortgage originations by the top 100 lenders during the second quarter. The group boosted its production volume by 19.2 percent from the first three months of the year, while the top 100 overall posted a 17.3 percent gain in volume. It marked...[Includes two data tables]
Subservicing Contracts Continued to Grow Slowly In a Crowded Field That Could Lead to a Shakeout
Subservicing contracts topped $1.97 trillion at June 30, a 4.3 percent gain from March and a 28.2 percent jump over the past year, according to an exclusive Inside Mortgage Finance survey. Overall, roughly 19.9 percent of all residential loans are now being processed by these “outsourcing” vendors, who do not own the underlying strip of receivables and instead receive a portion of the servicing fee for doing all the grunt work. The subservicing sector continues...[Includes one data table]
Why Should Mortgage Lenders Go Digital? That’s Where the Customers Are, Pros Say
Much of the historical discussion about the mortgage industry going fully digital and adopting e-mortgages has revolved around cost savings, greater efficiencies, validating compliance and other benefits. But at the end of the day, the biggest reason is that lenders’ customer base is increasingly focused on digital technology, and lenders need to go where the borrowers are. “That’s where the consumers are, right? Finally, everybody’s going online to shop for most of their products, and mortgages are starting to happen the same way,” said Tim Anderson, director of eServices for DocMagic, during a webinar last week sponsored by Inside Mortgage Finance. “They’re going out there looking for rates and pricing, they’re looking for real estate. If you want to capture that marketplace, you meet them out there in cyberspace.” Scott Stephen, president of the online division of Guaranteed Rate, noted...
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Inside FHA/VA Lending
Ginnie Mae to Take Action Against Illicit Refinancing of VA Mortgages
Rapid, aggressive refinancing of VA loans has made a comeback with some issuers using strategies to mask the practice and avoid possible penalties, including expulsion from the Ginnie Mae program, according to a top agency official. Responding to concerns raised by Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-MA, Michael Bright, acting Ginnie Mae president and chief operations officer, said a joint Ginnie Mae/VA lender-abuse task force is analyzing monthly data and developing additional policy measures to deal with the problem. Bright confirmed the resurgence of inappropriate streamline refinancing in Ginnie securitization pools in recent weeks and has promised to crack down on the questionable practice. The problem surfaced last year when Ginnie Mae noticed unusually fast prepayment speeds in its mortgage-backed securities, particularly MBS backed by VA loans. Ginnie found that certain lenders and ...
Inside Nonconforming Markets
Redwood Brings its First ‘Expanded Prime’ MBS With Higher Credit Enhancement
Redwood Trust is set to issue its first jumbo mortgage-backed security backed predominantly by loans with looser underwriting standards than the super-prime jumbos that have dominated the market. The planned $316.49 million Sequoia Mortgage Trust 2017-CH-1 includes many non-qualified mortgages and other loans that fall outside of Redwood’s traditional Select program. Kroll Bond Rating Agency and Moody’s Investors Service assigned preliminary AAA ratings to the MBS last week ...
Inside MBS & ABS
Treasury Discussing GSE Issues with Trade Groups; Multiple Guarantors, Capital Are on the Table
Over the past several weeks, the Treasury Department has been meeting with several industry trade groups about the future of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, discussing – among other things – what to do about the impending “zero capital” problem as well as the topic of multiple guarantors. Treasury’s goal, these officials said, is to come up with a workable blueprint on the future of the government-sponsored enterprises and the nation’s housing finance system – changes that might touch Ginnie Mae as well. Late this week there was...
Inside the CFPB
CFPB Eyeballing Equifax, Forced Arbitration an Issue
An official from the CFPB confirmed late last week the agency is looking into the massive data breach at Equifax, widely seen as the most significant, and potentially most damaging, so far in the age of the Internet. A spokesman for the bureau told this newsletter, “The CFPB has authority over the consumer reporting industry, including supervisory and enforcement authority. The CFPB is authorized to take enforcement action against institutions engaged in unfair, deceptive or abusive acts or practices, or that otherwise violate federal consumer financial laws. We are looking into the data breach and Equifax’s response, but cannot comment further at this time.” However, it’s not just the occurrence of the breach that bothers the consumer regulator. As part ...
Inside Mortgage Trends
Large Banks Still Backing Away From Mortgage Servicing, Valuations Steady
A handful of large banks continued to retreat from the business of servicing home loans for other investors during the second quarter of 2017, according to a new Inside Mortgage Trends analysis of call reports. Commercial banks and savings institutions reported that they serviced $3.627 trillion of residential mortgages for other investors, typically mortgage-backed securities trusts, as of the end of June. That was down just 0.4 percent from the previous period ... [Includes one data chart]
Inside The GSEs
Fannie/Freddie 1-Family MBS Business Up Again in August
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac produced a total of $77.42 billion of new single-family mortgage-backed securities in August, their fourth consecutive monthly gain. August single-family MBS issuance was up 8.8 percent from the previous month at Fannie, and up 6.1 percent at Freddie. Their combined production represented a 7.8 percent increase from July. Although the two GSEs have seen steady growth in MBS issuance in recent months, production through the first eight months of 2017 was down 1.6 percent from a year ago. And other than January and February, every month in 2017 has yielded less new business than it did last year.
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Most Popular Stories
- Finance of America Enters the Correspondent Channel, Focusing on CUs and Community Banks
- Don’t Look Now but Depositories are Making Modest Gains in Lending Market Share
- Why Should Lenders Go ‘Digital’? Because That’s Where the Customers Are
- 15 Groups Tell Treasury and FHFA: Legislation to Reform the GSEs, Not Some Recap Plan
- Short Takes: Did Wells Dodge a Bullet on its CFPB Fine? / A ‘Recommendation Memorandum’ / No Effect on Wells’ Mortgage Business / Subject the CFPB to Appropriations / Stearns Goes ‘Digital’
