Although the share of Ginnie Mae loans in forbearance decreased to 1.28% in February from 1.37% the prior month, there are still concerns about FHA/VA loan performance.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development took actions against 65 FHA lenders last year for various program violations.

The Center for Responsible Lending and the American Enterprise Institute want FHA and VA to implement measures to discourage harmful cash-out refinancings.

The Mortgage Bankers Association recommended the Department of Housing and Urban Development publish its proposed Section 184 guidelines in a policy handbook similar to FHA’s rather than in a Code of Federal Regulation.

The interest rate on VA’s Native American Direct Loan program has been lowered to 2.5% for the next two years.

The Biden administration’s fiscal 2024 budget request includes $61 million for Ginnie Mae; HUD proposes modernized flood mitigation standards; HUD reinstates 2013 discriminatory effects standard; HUD announces fair housing grants.

Most banks are better insulated than Silicon Valley Bank from duration risk in MBS and similar holdings, according to Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. (Includes two data charts.)

It looks like the worst of the bank liquidity crisis could be over. And now questions are being asked: Why weren’t these banks hedged? And who bought their high-quality Treasuries and MBS?

Government home loan programs should find ways to bring banks back into the fold, Ginnie Mae President Alanna McCargo said.

For more than a year, almost all of the examination responsibilities for CSS have fallen on the shoulders of a single examiner at FHFA.