In 2013, CashCall sold roughly $10 billion of residential servicing rights – a sale that may have been forced by Fannie Mae, sources told IMF.

It was the strongest refi volume of the year, and it helped offset a 9.8 percent drop in purchase-mortgage securitization over the same period.

Moody’s noted that 88.1 percent of the mortgages slated for securitization have been modified.

A spokesman for Impac said the purchase price will be disclosed “when the final docs are filed.”

Lowering premiums now would only put the FHA MMIF further behind, the House Financial Services Committee chairman argued.

Mortgage lenders are delirious about lower FHA premiums, right? Well, not everyone.

HUD Secretary Castro said the MMIF is on a “positive trajectory,” though he admits the premium reduction could delay its recovery...

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac saw a modest decline in production of new single-family mortgage-backed securities at the end of 2014, but a rally in refinance lending softened the thud. The two government-sponsored enterprises securitized $179.38 billion of single-family MBS during the fourth quarter of last year, according to a new Inside Mortgage Finance analysis of loan-level data. That was down 2.1 percent from the third quarter of 2014. But the GSEs securitized...[Includes three data charts]

Ocwen Financial’s massive exit from the agency servicing market is expected to be a multi-year phase-out complicated by its past regulatory problems and a weak market for legacy product, according to industry advisors. If the company follows through on its promise to exit all segments of the agency market – Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae – it will wind up selling a hefty $182.51 billion of residential mortgage servicing rights, based on third quarter survey numbers submitted to Inside Mortgage Finance. At Sept. 30, the nonbank serviced...

President Obama this week announced a substantial price cut in FHA mortgage insurance premiums, although agency officials aren’t sure yet when the change will take effect. The FHA will lower its annual insurance payment from 1.35 percent to 0.85 percent, according to a White House fact sheet released in advance of the president’s speech as Inside Mortgage Finance was going to press late this week. According to the administration, the price cut won’t hurt...