The average daily trading volume in agency MBS fell to just $200.5 billion in July, the weakest reading of the year, according to the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association. Compared to the prior month, MBS trading fell by 4.5 percent. The strongest month of the year came in January at $229.8 billion. In general, a lower reading on average daily trading volume means...
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are still titans in the residential MBS market when it comes to making new securities, but they have been forced to the sidelines as investors over nine years in conservatorship. The two government-sponsored enterprises held a combined $221.48 billion of residential MBS at the end of June. Firm numbers on the total volume of MBS outstanding at that point aren’t available yet, but it’s unlikely that Fannie and Freddie held more than 3.5 percent of the market. The two GSEs reduced...[Includes one data table]
Commercial banks and savings institutions continued to stockpile agency MBS during the second quarter of 2017 with a strong appetite for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac pass-through securities. Total bank investment in residential MBS rose by $36.28 billion during the second quarter, lifting the industry’s aggregate portfolio to a record $1.799 trillion. Bank MBS holdings have risen steadily since the third quarter of 2014, growing by $264.07 billion over that period. In addition to those held-to-maturity and available-for-sale accounts, about a dozen banks held $16.34 billion of residential MBS in trading accounts. All of the growth has been...[Includes two data tables]
Meanwhile, the leaders of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee have introduced S. 1751, a six-year extension bill with relatively minor reforms, as far as the Realtors are concerned.
With the troubles from the financial crisis fading in the rear-view mirror, the residential mortgage servicing industry could be on “the edge of glory,” if companies can elevate their game and keep it at a high level, according to analysts with S&P Global Ratings. “The financial crisis left mortgage servicing hanging on a moment of truth,” they said in a new report. “This led to substantial changes in the industry in the past 10 years, the effects of which are still being felt today.” The changes included...
A new report found that fewer millennials have taken out FHA loans in the past couple of months and more choosing conventional loans. Separately, mortgage brokers are getting most of their business from Generation X. According to June data from the Ellie Mae Millennial Tracker, approximately 63 percent of all closed loans made to millennial borrowers were conventional mortgage loans with an average amount of $205,066, while 36 percent were FHA loans with an average amount of $173,381. Conventional and FHA loans, which tend to track in cycles, make up...
Mortgage industry groups cannot seem to agree on whether there should be more than two guarantors of conventional mortgage-backed securities once Congress and the White House figure out what to do with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The Mortgage Bankers Association firmly supports multiple guarantors, arguing that more competition is better. But groups representing smaller lenders worry about the burden of maintaining relationships with many secondary-market outlets and the potential for an uneven playing field. David Stevens, president and CEO of the MBA, said...
Mortgage closings moved out of the office years ago to places more convenient for borrowers. Now, technology allows closing to occur without all the parties being present in the same place. United Wholesale Mortgage claims to be the first lender to have completed a “virtual e-closing” with a refinance that closed at the end of July. The lender allowed the borrowers and notary to use webcam technology and electronically sign all of the closing documents. Previously, lenders offering e-closings have required some in-person contact with a notary to e-sign closing documents. “This ultimately eliminates...
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