A bipartisan pair of lawmakers from the House of Representatives found fault with the Obama administration this week for not making housing finance and reform of the government-sponsored enterprises a priority. Failing that, they’re not certain there would be enough support from both sides of the aisle to get a comprehensive bill pushed through the pipeline and signed by the president. “I don’t think the White House has sent a positive signal about participating in this process,” said Rep. Randy Neugebauer, R-TX, during a housing finance reform discussion in Washington, DC, this week sponsored by the Bipartisan Policy Center. “It’s such a big lift. You need to make sure that if you’re going down that road, that you have the opportunity to accomplish something.” His colleague, Rep. John Delaney, D-MD, agreed...
In the eyes of some Federal Reserve watchers, Fed chief Janet Yellen has become a master of making every public appearance a bit of a Rorschach test, giving fans and critics alike just enough of what they want to hear to reinforce their pre-existing viewpoints. Her semi-annual Humphrey-Hawkins testimony on Fed monetary policy before Congress this week was another prime example of this, with Wall Street types hopeful of a rise in interest rates sometime later this year, and contrarians increasingly unconvinced and dismissive. For instance, labor markets are showing...
ABS issuance has climbed steadily since bottoming out in 2010, and this year is on track to exceed $200 billion in annual issuance for the first time in eight years.
Big banks have attracted considerable attention as they have reduced their footprint in the mortgage market. Although nonbank lenders and servicers have taken up most of the slack, a new Inside Mortgage Trends analysis reveals that small banks have been taking a bigger role in the industry. Commercial banks and thrifts have been building their holdings of unsecuritized home loans at a time when the overall supply of mortgage debt has been ... [Includes one data chart]
The nation’s megabanks reported modest to strong growth in residential production for the second quarter, a likely harbinger of what might be a stellar showing by some of the nation’s nonbanks, which have been steadily gaining market share the past few years. According to a tally from Inside Mortgage Trends based on earnings reports issued this week, Wells Fargo was not only the market leader in originations with $62.0 billion in the second quarter ... [Includes one data chart]
Although some mortgage originators might brag – or even advertise – that they can close a loan in under 30 days, it’s not likely to happen, at least not in practice. According to interviews conducted by Inside Mortgage Trends over the past two weeks, a variety of factors can derail a closing – including many circumstances that an originator just cannot control. Such circumstances can include insufficient funds on the part of the borrower, scheduling mix-ups ...
While reform of the nation’s housing system and the government-sponsored enterprises languishes on Capitol Hill, three important GSE risk-sharing innovations could revolutionize housing finance independent of Congressional action, according to experts at the Urban Institute’s Housing Finance Policy Center. “Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have guaranteed at least half of all new mortgage originations for the past eight years. The two GSEs’ critical role ...
Consumer advocates are calling for reforms that would address servicers’ use of property preservation companies in instances where a home appears to be vacant and scheduled for foreclosure. In recent years, more than 250 lawsuits have been filed in at least 35 states against property management firms who were acting on behalf of servicers, according to Christopher Odinet, an assistant professor of law at the Southern University Law Center. In a paper published ...
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