New issuance of non-mortgage ABS dropped slightly during the second quarter of 2014 from the robust levels recorded in the first quarter of 2014, according to a new analysis and ranking by Inside MBS & ABS. A total of $49.14 billion of non-mortgage ABS were issued during the April-to-June cycle, an 8.0 percent decline from the first quarter of 2014. But new issuance remained...[Includes three data charts]
If JPMorgan Chase were to exit the FHA program, plenty of other residential lenders would pick up the slack, according to officials at the Department of Housing and Urban Development, who in a press briefing this week indicated the agency is hardly worried about such a development. “There are plenty of other lenders,” said one senior HUD official. “Their [JPM’s] volume has dropped. Quicken is now number one.” During an earnings call last week, JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon questioned...
As a way to keep a tight grip on counterparty risk, Freddie Mac will start conducting bimonthly “operational reviews of certain specialty servicers” later this year. Not to be outdone, Fannie Mae will also perform such reviews, but only when a seller/servicer reaches a “certain mortgage loan delivery threshold.” The news – contained in a recent report from the Inspector General of the Federal Housing Finance Agency – isn’t likely to warm the hearts of fast growing nonbanks. Both Nationstar Mortgage and Walter Investment Management are mentioned by name in the report, which voices concerns thatsome nonbanks pose a risk to the government-sponsored enterprises because they have “limited financial capacity” to make good on representation and warranty contracts. Nationstar and Walter are...
A federal judge last week granted limited discovery to a hedge fund representing a group of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac shareholders as they challenge the government’s “net worth sweep” of their profits. But the court will keep a tight lid on public access to the documents in a nod to the government’s claim that a leak could have dire economic consequences on the mortgage market. Fairholme Capital Management has been pushing hard for discovery and access to internal government documents since the shareholder filed suit last summer demanding that the Treasury Department void its August 2012 Third Amendment to its preferred stock purchase agreement with Fannie and Freddie. In her ruling, Judge Margaret Sweeney of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims was...
FHA single-family endorsements fell 55.6 percent in the first four months of 2014, compared to the same period last year, but the impact was far from uniform across the country. A new analysis by Inside FHA Lending, an affiliated newsletter, shows that housing markets where FHA loan limits were reduced this year have seen a bigger drop in FHA business than elsewhere in the country. In counties with lower FHA loan limits, production in the first four months of 2014 was down 57.7 percent from a year ago, while production in markets where there was no change fell 51.3 percent. FHA lending declined...
Freedom Mortgage reported continued growth in originations in the second quarter of 2014, largely driven by correspondent production. The nonbank has focused on agency mortgages with strong underwriting, retaining servicing on the loans. Freedom had $5.72 billion in originations in the second quarter of 2014, a big 48.7 percent increase from the previous quarter and up 31.1 percent compared with the second quarter of 2013. Officials at the nonbank touted Freedom’s strength while originations have declined overall. “While the mortgage industry is experiencing a downturn, Freedom Mortgage has increased...
Mortgage lenders and other financial services providers are up in arms about a new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau proposal to allow consumers to post narrative complaints about companies in the agency’s online complaint database. The bureau wants to expand the current database to include “unstructured consumer complaint narrative data.” A consumer who submits a complaint will be given the opportunity to check a consent box giving the bureau permission to publish his or her narrative. Where the consumer provides consent to publish the narrative, the related company will be given...
The first-time homebuyer share of home purchases has increased for four consecutive months, according to the latest Campbell/Inside Mortgage Finance HousingPulse Tracking Survey. First-time homebuyer activity tends to increase through the spring homebuying season, but the first-time homebuyer share is at particularly high levels this year. First-time homebuyers accounted for 37.2 percent of home purchases in June, based on a three-month moving average. That was up from a 34.2 percent share in March, and the last time the first-time homebuyer share of home purchases was at 37.2 percent was September 2010. According to real estate agents, first-time buyers appear...
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