No one is suggesting, quite yet, that new “bulk” and “flow” servicing deals will become com-monplace again, but thanks to rising interest rates and home values, there is a new optimism among sellers that hasn’t been seen since the housing crash of 2008 (Includes three data charts)

Industry observers are lauding the passage of an amendment in the Senate’s proposed budget to curtail the use of Fannie Mae’s and Freddie Mac’s guaranty fees to pay for unrelated spending.By a vote of 50 to 49 last weekend, the Senate passed its fiscal 2014 budget resolution. An amendment making it more difficult to tap fees charged by the government-sponsored enterprises was offered by Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee Chairman Tim Johnson, D-SD, and Ranking Minority Member Mike Crapo, R-ID, and approved by unanimous consent.

The mortgage share of home-purchase financing has declined significantly in recent months as a result of an influx of investors using cash to buy homes, according to the latest Campbell/Inside Mortgage Finance HousingPulse Tracking Survey. “Cash buyers are killing the financed buyer options,” according to a real estate agent in New York state. “Buyers are waiving every protection to get the deal.”

In the past, when refinancing booms ended, it was inevitable that some lenders would “expand” their underwriting standards to maintain production volume, sometimes with mixed results. But that didn’t occur in the downturns following a series of refi waves since the housing bust of 2008.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac this week introduced another new, simplified loan modification program designed to help troubled borrowers avoid foreclosure and stay in their homes at a time when loss mitigation activity by the two government-sponsored enterprises appears to be losing steam. (Includes one data chart)

The Federal Housing Finance Agency this week sought comment on a proposal that would bar servicers from participating in lender-placed insurance through reinsurance or from receiving any commission or fee for placing or maintaining such type of insurance on mortgages.

Most Freddie Mac servicers are not complying with reporting requirements that seek to catch servicing fraud and regulatory violations, a mandate that falls under the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s Servicing Alignment Initiative, according to a new audit. The FHFA Inspector General separately slammed the regulator for failing to “thoroughly oversee” how the two government-sponsored enterprises monitor their seller/servicers’ compliance with contractual agreements.

Bank and thrift holdings of first-lien mortgages increased in 2012 even as major banks sold sig-nificant amounts of troubled loans. The growth was driven by Wells Fargo and a number of mid-sized banks, holding certain conforming loans in portfolio along with non-agency originations.

Try as they might, the government cannot keep a good MI program down. FHA endorsements rose almost 19 percent in January.

The credit union industry has appealed to the U.S. Senate for relief on rules and regulations coming out of the CFPB.