We’re told a sale contract could be signed any day now, but as far as a public announcement is concerned, it may not happen right away…

Private mortgage insurance volume was up sharply in the second quarter, based on a new Inside Mortgage Finance analysis of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgage-backed securities data. The two government-sponsored enterprises securitized $52.59 billion of single-family loans with private MI coverage during the period. That was up 21.5 percent from the first quarter, and it lifted year-to-date volume 42.4 percent above the level during the first six months of last year. It was...[Includes two data tables]

The nation’s subservicers increased their contracts to a record high $1.350 trillion at March 31 as tougher regulations continued to play a key role in the shifting of processing chores away from depositories to nonbanks. On a sequential basis, contracts increased by 7.1 percent in the first quarter and 14.4 percent compared to March 31, 2014, according to a new Inside Mortgage Finance ranking. Only four banks – Flagstar, Cenlar, Wells Fargo and Bank of America – were among the top 20 subservicers. Overall, at March 31, subservicers were...[Includes one data table]

There is merit to a rule proposed this week by the Department of Housing and Urban Development to establish a maximum filing period for FHA claims, but the penalty for missing the new deadline may be excessive for the offense, according to industry participants. Under the proposed rule, the FHA insurance contract would be terminated if a lender fails to file a claim for a property acquired through foreclosure within three months from the date they obtain marketable title to the property or successfully sell the property to a third party. The requirement applies to both pre-foreclosure sale and deed-in-lieu-of-foreclosure. Although the proposal addresses problems caused by delayed multiple filings, lenders could still submit...

Home prices remain below their peak levels and mortgage interest rates are well below where they were prior to the financial crisis. However, mortgage originations since 2008 have been significantly below the levels seen in years prior as tight underwriting standards have limited production. “Home prices are still very affordable by historical standards, despite increases over the last three years,” the Urban Institute’s Housing Finance Policy Center noted in a recent report. “Even if interest rates rose to 6.00 percent, affordability would be at the long term historical average.” Black Knight Financial Services added...

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac completed 65,960 foreclosure-prevention actions during the first quarter of 2015, a slight increase from the previous period, according to a recently released report from the Federal Housing Finance Agency. Of that number, there was a 1.0 percent uptick in the number of loan modifications in the first quarter. The number of completed repayment and forbearance plans rose somewhat faster, by 7.2 percent and 8.2 percent, respectively. The FHFA said...[Includes one data table]

Potential homeowners may be talking themselves out of the American dream, according to several recent surveys that show consumers underestimate their ability to get a mortgage. A Genworth survey of more than 100 lending executives found that 66 percent said eligible borrowers mistakenly think they don’t qualify for a mortgage. In a similar survey on consumer’s views on homeownership, Wells Fargo reported...

HUD issued the language to remedy the problem of delayed filings: lenders holding back claims...

“The Greek crisis already has taken a toll on MBS and still poses a sizeable risk to performance,” according to a new report from Deutsche Bank Securities.

Mortgage repurchase volume fell 9.5 percent from the fourth quarter and it was down 12.3 percent from the first three months of last year.