While the net supply of non-agency mortgage-backed securities continues to run off, holdings by banks and thrifts actually increased in the third quarter of 2013, according to a new ranking and analysis by Inside Nonconforming Markets. The entities held $145.83 billion in non-agency MBS at the end of the third quarter of 2013, up 2.2 percent from the previous quarter. Banks and thrifts held 17.8 percent of non-agency MBS outstanding at the end of the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase is the ... [Includes one data chart]

Borrowers looking to purchase a home with a loan balance above conforming loan limits have a number of financing options, according to real estate agents across the country. However, some potential homebuyers are opting to avoid jumbo mortgages by paying with cash or putting enough down to receive a conforming mortgage. Tom Popik, research director of Campbell Surveys, said respondents to the latest Campbell/Inside Mortgage Finance HousingPulse Tracking Survey reported that jumbo mortgage availability ...

Cove Financial is targeting borrowers who can’t qualify for agency mortgages and offering them a unique rent-to-own option. The lender’s Mortgage Alternative Program involves a process that looks a lot like the purchase-mortgage process but instead gives a borrower time to rebuild credit before purchasing a home. “It’s for people who have a downpayment but don’t currently qualify for a mortgage,” Patrick Flanagan, CEO of Cove Financial, said of the MAP. A borrower working with Cove goes through a ...

Ocwen Financial agreed to purchase the servicing rights on $39.2 billion of mortgages from Wells Fargo. The mortgages included in the deal are largely in non-agency mortgage-backed securities. Ocwen will pay $2.7 billion. The Obama administration renewed calls for Congress to approve legislation that would establish a refinance program for non-agency borrowers. The administration has been pushing for a non-agency refi program since at least early 2012 but Republicans in Congress ... [Includes three briefs]

Spurred by low interest rates and strong house price appreciation, Home Equity Conversion Mortgage loan originations rose 20.3 percent during the first nine months of 2013 compared to the same period the year before, according to Inside FHA Lending’s analysis of FHA snapshot data. HECM lenders reported $11.8 billion in total originations over the nine-month period, with initial principal amount at loan origination totaling $7.8 billion. Purchase reverse mortgage loans comprised 94.5 percent while fixed-rate mortgages accounted for ... [1 chart]

The FHA saw its share of the first-time homebuyer market drop slightly in 2013 because of higher fees and stringent mortgage insurance requirements, according to the latest Campbell/Inside Mortgage Finance HousingPulse Tracking Survey. First-time homebuyers still comprise a solid chunk of FHA’s traditional base, but there has been some erosion in the past year, the survey of real estate agents found. The decline was due to changes implemented by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, which resulted in higher mortgage insurance premiums for FHA loans. The agency also ...

The Department of Housing and Urban Development will accept electronic signatures on FHA loan documents provided the lender complies with the department’s latest e-sign guidelines. E-signatures are voluntary under current HUD rules. Effective immediately, however, HUD will accept such signatures on FHA paperwork relating to mortgage insurance, servicing and loss mitigation, FHA insurance claims, HUD real estate-owned sales contracts and related addenda as long as they meet the new requirements. The new policy applies to all FHA forward mortgages and Home Equity Conversion Mortgage loans. HUD will treat eligible e-signatures as ...

California lenders and realtors will appeal to the Department of Housing and Urban Development to reconsider changes in the FHA 2014 loan limits. Lenders doing business in counties that have been hard hit by the loan-limit changes are reportedly gathering data to support future requests to HUD to recalculate loan limits for a specific local area. An industry source said lenders in the Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario housing market are gearing up to petition HUD to recalculate the FHA loan limits in those areas. Specifically, the median sales price for a one-unit property in the affected areas fell ...

The Senate this week passed bipartisan legislation that would delay unforeseen, excessive flood-insurance premium hikes for FHA and conventional mortgages nationwide. S. 1926, the Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act, passed by a vote of 67 to 32, as amended. Introduced by Sens. Robert Menendez, D-NJ, and Johnny Isakson, R-GA, the bill would delay rate increases for up to four years by giving the Federal Emergency Management Agency time to study the problem and develop a plan to help homeowners who cannot afford higher premiums. The increases were mandated by the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act, which Congress ...

Ginnie Mae is considering lengthening the approval time for transfers of mortgage servicing rights (MSRs) to 90 days or more from the current 30 days but has yet to issue guidance. The agency alerted sellers of MSRs and their investment banking advisors of the forthcoming change in late November at an “education summit” in Washington, according to a participant, who preferred anonymity. New and existing issuers participated in the event, and a copy of Ginnie Mae’s presentation was provided to Inside Mortgage Finance, an affiliated publication. Ginnie Mae declined to comment on the report. However, according to the presentation, the reason for ...