MBS trading has improved as investors and traders weigh the landscape. One positive: a benign inflation reading this week. But is this a head fake before worse news appears?

Ellington Financial plans to increase non-agency issuance. The real estate investment trust last month issued its first non-QM MBS in over a year.

Delinquencies and losses on subprime auto ABS have been rising. Improved underwriting and inflation leveling out could help improve performance, according to industry analysts.

The Financial Stability Oversight Council wants Congress to provide FHFA and Ginnie Mae authority to supervise nonbanks given their growing dominance of the mortgage servicing market.

A consumer advisory board meeting convened this week by the CFPB included an emphasis on issues in the mortgage market.

The Mortgage Bankers Association has called for the creation of a national housing policy director position in the White House.

Some see Freddie Mac’s proposal to acquire second liens as a way to boost originations of the products. Others suggest that GSE involvement in the sector will have minimal impact as demand from borrowers appears to be limited.

With banking regulators considering how to revise their Basel III endgame proposal, the U.S. Mortgage Insurers stressed that regulators should look more favorably on loans with private MI.

A proposal from the Urban Institute calls for a revamp of the refi process to make it more equitable for lower-income borrowers and borrowers of color.

A lender’s reconsideration of valuation process must include disclosure to the borrower at the point of a loan application and again when the borrower receives the appraisal.