While the GSEs have been engaging in risk-based pricing for mortgage guarantees since the crisis, very large cross subsidies remain, according to one panelist from the Federal Reserve…

Don Brown of Optimal Blue: The industry is “at or near a high-water mark” in terms of the number of mortgage investors.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s structure was deemed unconstitutional this week by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. And in another rejection for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac shareholders, the court ruled the Treasury net worth sweep was within the agency’s power.

As the term of Federal Housing Finance Agency Mel Watt winds down, the mortgage industry is getting more vocal about perceived shortcomings in the oversight of the government-sponsored enterprises, including the blurring of lines between the primary and secondary markets.

As refinance business declines, the government-sponsored enterprises are stepping up efforts to help lenders produce more volume in other areas. At the California Mortgage Bankers Association’s secondary market conference this week in San Francisco, officials from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac touted various efforts to help lenders and ultimately prop up GSE MBS issuance.

Mortgage originations have been trending lower but there’s still plenty of demand in the secondary market for new production, according to industry participants. There’s demand from both MBS investors and aggregators that package mortgages for securitization.

The non-agency MBS market had arguably its best quarter since the financial crisis during the April-May production cycle, generating $20.72 billion of new securities, according to a new analysis and ranking by Inside MBS & ABS. [Includes three data charts.]

As the outlook for originations – especially refis – continues to worsen, more nonbank mortgage firms may consider selling out to larger competitors later this year, according to interviews conducted by Inside Mortgage Finance.

There appears to be no clear, unified lending policy among the government-sponsored enterprises, FHA, VA and the U.S. Department of Agriculture when it comes to the eligibility of certain non-permanent U.S. residents for a conventional conforming or government-backed mortgage loan.

Republican and Democrat leaders of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee battled over minority requests for extensive documents about Kathy Kraninger, the Trump administration’s nominee to become the next director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.