The changes allow eligible non-borrowing spouses with older Home-Equity Conversion Mortgages the potential to remain in their home following the death of the last surviving HECM borrower.
The VA maintained a sizeable lead in first-lien mortgage refinancing over FHA and private mortgage insurers in the first quarter of 2015 but yielded to both in purchase originations.
The Federal Housing Finance Agency needs to be more forthright about its plans to expand the credit-risk transfer activities of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, according to a bipartisan group of lawmakers on the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee. In a letter sent to FHFA Director Mel Watt this week, the six senators said the agency’s public guidance on the program “lacks specificity, metrics and long-term direction.” Watt and other FHFA officials have talked about risk transfers by the two government-sponsored enterprises, but most of the description of the program is somewhat vaguely outlined in the agency’s strategic plan and the so-called 2015 scorecard. The bipartisan group, which includes Sens. Mark Warner, D-VA, and Mike Crapo, R-ID, urged...
A large decline in interest rates in the past year created millions of refinance opportunities for lenders, according to industry analysts. However, prepayment risk on MBS backed by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae appears to be decreasing as interest rates increase. As of the end of April, 7.0 million borrowers were likely to both qualify for and benefit from refinancing, according to Black Knight Financial Services. That was up from 4.5 million potential refi borrowers a year ago as interest rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages declined by 70 basis points in that time, according to Freddie’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey. “This is...[Includes one data table]