The CFPB is seeking consumer comments on the mortgage closing process, specifically asking consumers to identify the key “pain points” associated with mortgage closing and how those pain points might by addressed by market innovations and technology. Specifically, the agency said it wanted comments on how to increase the use of technology and promote inventions that encourage a more streamlined mortgage closing process while also improving consumer knowledge. The agency said it is seeking information from market...

Realtors to Make Another Appeal to CFPB Leadership. The National Association of Realtors plans to host CFPB Director Richard Cordray and other housing policy experts Tuesday, Jan. 7, to discuss the effects the bureau’s game-changing mortgage rules will have on lenders, consumers and the overall housing market. Chief among the focal points of discussion will be the bureau’s new ability-to-repay/qualified mortgage rule, which establishes strong consumer protections that aim to ensure qualified homebuyers have access to...

While activity plummeted in the second half of the year, jumbo MBS production in 2013 was nearly four times the level from the previous year.

Chief among the focal points of discussion will be the bureau's new ability-to-repay/qualified mortgage rule, which establishes strong consumer protections that ensure qualified homebuyers have access to safe, affordable home loans they can pay back.

The effort, known as Tier Ranking System II, was created to determine servicer compliance with delinquent servicing guidelines developed by HUD.

MountainView and The Prestwick Mortgage Group are out in the market with new deals for mortgage servicing rights. The new year should prove to busy for MSR sales.

Just three jumbo mortgage-backed securities were issued in the fourth quarter of 2013, according to a new ranking and analysis by Inside Nonconforming Markets. During the second quarter of the year, one deal was issued every week, on average. Investor demand for jumbo MBS plummeted after interest rates started to increase in May. A number of the deals that were completed in the second half of the year received minimal attention from investors, with at least one planned issuance scrapped ... [Includes one data chart]

Mel Watt, the incoming director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, appears to be taking a less aggressive stance toward decreasing the government-sponsored enterprises’ dominance of the mortgage market than Ed DeMarco, the acting director of the FHFA. The FHFA in December announced changes to GSE mortgage-backed security guaranty fees that would amount to an average increase of approximately 11 basis points, to be implemented in March and April ...

The Federal Housing Finance Agency said in December that it would wait until at least October before setting new “purchase limits” for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The regulator of the two government-sponsored enterprises is considering establishing purchase limits below the statutory conforming loan limits. In the highest-cost markets, the biggest loan the GSEs could buy would be $600,000, instead of $625,500. The national purchase limit would be $400,000, roughly 4 percent below the $417,000 conforming ...

Originations held in bank portfolios couldn't outpace portfolio runoff, according to a new ranking and analysis by Inside Nonconforming Markets. The dollar volume of first liens in bank and thrift portfolios declined by 0.6 percent in the third quarter of 2013 compared with the previous quarter. Total residential mortgages outstanding increased by a scant 0.1 percent during that time, the first quarterly increase in total mortgages outstanding since early 2008. While banks ... [Includes one data chart]