Mortgage performance improved in the first quarter of 2017, recovering from a somewhat unexpected increase in delinquencies at the end of 2016. The total delinquency rate in the Inside Mortgage Finance Large Servicer Delinquency Index was 4.28 percent as of the end of March, down from 5.05 percent at the end of the previous quarter and improving on the 4.95 percent delinquency rate recorded in March 2016. Among the 32 servicers in the large delinquency index, only two reported...[Includes one data table]
Although bulk transfers of mortgage-servicing rights were down somewhat in the first quarter, sales advisors are reporting strong activity for the period including more buyer interest and a firming up of prices, even on Ginnie Mae product. According to affiliated newsletter Inside Mortgage Trends, bulk agency MSR transfers that closed in the first quarter were down 35.9 percent from the fourth to $77.3 billion. The biggest downturn was in Fannie Mae product, due to a temporary freeze on bulk transfers as servicers adjusted to new investor reporting requirements. Freddie Mac transfers were actually up from the fourth quarter. More banks and consortiums are extending...
Nonprime products such as subprime and non-qualified mortgage loans held up better than industry mainstays during the sharp drop in origination volume in the first quarter of this year, according to a new Inside Mortgage Finance ranking and analysis. Conventional conforming remained the biggest component of the market, accounting for 53.0 percent of first-lien mortgage originations in the first three months of 2017. But the estimated $204.0 billion of such loans produced during the period was down 36.6 percent from the fourth quarter. Government-insured lending was...[Includes two data tables]
This fall will mark – unless there’s divine intervention or a Kumbaya moment in Washington – the ninth anniversary of the federal takeover of Fannie and Freddie.