Trade groups representing participants in the primary mortgage market and the non-agency mortgage-backed security market are calling on federal banking regulators to address state laws that allow for “super-priority” status for homeowners’ association liens. Risks from HOA super-priority liens have been of particular concern following a September 2014 ruling by the Nevada Supreme Court. The court allowed for a homeowners’ association foreclosure sale to ...

Seven years after the financial crisis that nearly devastated the U.S. economy, the mortgage finance industry finds itself in a far better place than before the crisis but facing new challenges brought on by a tighter credit box and new regulations, according to panelists at a housing symposium late last week in Washington, DC. Hosted by the Urban Institute and CoreLogic, the forum assessed the progress of the mortgage financing industry since the financial crisis abated ...

The Federal Housing Finance Agency announced that the baseline conforming-loan limit will remain at $417,000 in 2016. As of the third quarter of 2015, the house-price index used to make adjustments in the conforming-loan limit still had not caught up to the level set back in the third quarter of 2007. However, high-cost loan limits will go up in 39 counties next year, the FHFA said.

Originations of jumbo mortgages declined in the third quarter of 2015 compared with the previous quarter, according to a new ranking and analysis by Inside Nonconforming Markets. A number of lenders continue to loosen underwriting standards and offer favorable pricing in an effort to originate jumbos. An estimated $85.0 billion in jumbo mortgages were originated in the third quarter. While production fell 8.6 percent on a quarterly basis, originations through ... [Includes one data chart]

The Structured Finance Industry Group and the Treasury Department continue to work on complementary initiatives to revive the non-agency mortgage-backed security market. SFIG’s upcoming plans include a push for transparency among issuers, while the Treasury has shifted its focus somewhat away from a benchmark non-agency MBS transaction. Eric Kaplan, a managing director at Shellpoint Partners and one of the leaders of SFIG’s RMBS 3.0 effort, said SFIG is ...

The latest developments in the Structured Finance Industry Group’s effort to revive the non-agency MBS market have been met with praise from many industry participants. However, larger issues continue to constrain activity in the market. SFIG recently released a package of model representations and warranties for non-agency MBS. “I think this effort to standardize reps and warrants is a really important step in helping investors get more comfortable with the sector,” Grant Bailey ...

The first nine months of 2015 have seen a tremendous increase in FHA single-family originations as borrowers took advantage of a 50 basis-point premium reduction implemented earlier this year, according to Inside FHA/VA Lending’s analysis of agency data. Total FHA loan production during the first nine months of 2015 was up a whopping 81.3 percent increase. Data also showed a 13.1 percent increase in the third quarter from the prior quarter. It is hard to imagine that back in February this year, we reported a dismal ending for 2014, where overlays and high-loan costs caused an 8.1 percent decline in FHA endorsements in the fourth quarter and a 36.6 percent drop from 2013. In 2015, FHA fixed-rate originations increased 12.7 percent from the second to the third quarter, and rose 86.0 percent on a year-to-date basis. In 2014, conversion ... [ 2 charts ].

First-lien portfolio holdings continued to increase in the third quarter of 2015, according to a new Inside Nonconforming Markets analysis of bank and thrift call reports. Banks and thrifts held $1.85 trillion in first-lien mortgages in portfolio at the end of September, up 0.3 percent compared with the end of the second quarter and a 2.8 percent increase compared with the third quarter of 2014. Wells Fargo had the largest portfolio at $266.3 billion as of ... [Includes one data chart]

Hatteras Financial is working to issue a jumbo mortgage-backed security backed by adjustable-rate mortgages. The real estate investment trust has acquired more than $275 million in jumbo ARMs since launching its conduit operations last year. The planned jumbo MBS from Hatteras is Onslow Bay Mortgage Loan Trust 2015-1, according to documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission last week. The REIT’s conduit operates as Onslow Bay Financial ...

President Obama last week threatened to veto legislation progressing in Congress to provide qualified-mortgage status to loans held in portfolio by depository institutions. Industry analysts suggest that the bill still has a chance at being signed into law, if adjustments are made. The House approved H.R. 1210, the Portfolio Lending and Mortgage Access Act, on a 255-174 vote last week. Similar legislation is under consideration in the Senate. The bill in the House would ...