A continued decline in GSE refinances, in concert with faltering purchase activity midway through the first quarter, helped contribute to an overall drop in the volume of single-family mortgages securitized by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in February. Fannie and Freddie issued $44.6 billion in single-family mortgage-backed securities in February, a 5.1 percent decline from January and a steeper 62.0 percent drop for the first two months of 2014 compared to the same period in the previous year.

Fannie, Freddie Helped by Special Servicers. While nonbank servicers are under scrutiny from a number of different parties, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac said special servicers reduce credit losses compared with traditional bank servicers. In its latest earnings report, Freddie said it facilitated the transfer of servicing for $55.6 billion in unpaid principal balance to special servicers in 2013. “Some of these specialty servicers have grown rapidly in the last two years and now service a large share of our loans,” the GSE said.

GSE profits are poised to remain the multi-billion dollar gift that keeps on giving to Uncle Sam over the next decade, according to a White House analysis. The analysis, which is part of the Obama administration’s 2015 budget, assumes Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac remain in operation and continue to pay dividends to the government under the current “net worth sweep” arrangement promulgated by the Treasury Department in the summer of 2012. As part of the President’s Fiscal Year 2015 budget request, the White House Office of Management and Budget released projections that the GSEs could return an additional $179.2 billion to the Treasury through 2024.

Lawmakers and industry groups are strongly suggesting that the Federal Housing Finance Agency think twice then forget about its proposal to set GSE conforming purchase limits. The conforming loan limit is currently $417,000 and the high-cost conforming loan limit is $625,500. Last December, the FHFA proposed to establish “loan purchase” limits for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac which wouldn’t occur until October at the earliest.

Mortgage lenders repurchased $3.05 billion of home loans from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac during the fourth quarter of 2013, a 91.0 percent increase from the previous quarter, according to a new Inside Mortgage Trends analysis of repurchase disclosures. As “securitizers,” the two government-sponsored enterprises are required to file repurchase activity reports with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Fannie and Freddie have ... [Includes one data chart]

Legislation that would allow privately insured credit unions access to the Federal Home Loan Bank system cleared committee last week and is headed to the House floor for a vote. Introduced in December by Rep. Steve Stivers, R-OH, and Joyce Beatty, D-OH, H.R. 3584, the Capital Access for Small Community Financial Institutions Act of 2013, would amend the Federal Home Loan Bank Act to allow privately insured credit unions to be eligible for FHLBank membership. H.R. 3584 was voted out of the House Financial Services Committee by a vote of 55-0.

New master policies announced recently by the Federal Housing Finance Agency for private mortgage insurers may not provide the touted improvements or additional clarity, warned attorneys with Reed Smith’s Insurance Recovery Group. The revised MI master policy requirements are designed to ensure consistent and reliable MI coverage for greater operational efficiency and transparency in the mortgage market. They are supposed to improve and clarify the various rights and ...

The average time on market for short sales has increased significantly in the past year, according to the latest Campbell/Inside Mortgage Finance HousingPulse Tracking Survey. The problems appear to be due to approvals from sellers as well as lenders’ concerns about financing such purchases. Short sales completed in February were on the market for 17 weeks, based on a three-month moving average. That’s a 30.8 percent increase from the average time on market for short sales ...

The long-awaited auction of nonperforming mortgages by HSBC USA appears to be underway, though the bank isn’t providing much guidance on the dollar volume of loans it intends to sell this year. In early March, HSBC held a private auction of roughly $1.2 billion of NPLs, according to investors briefed on the sale. “Only a select group of buyers was invited to participate,” said one source. Rumored bidders include Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse, among others. A spokeswoman for HSBC ...

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have a liquidation value – excluding what they’ve already paid to the federal government – potentially well north of $200 billion, according to an independent evaluation conducted on the two GSEs.The report, conducted by Alvarez & Marsal, concluded that if the two GSEs are eventually liquidated, the federal government could reap $170 billion to $234 billion in net proceeds. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have a liquidation value – excluding what they’ve already paid to the federal government – potentially well north of $200 billion, according to an independent evaluation conducted on the two GSEs. The report, conducted by Alvarez & Marsal, concluded that if the two GSEs are eventually liquidated, the federal government could reap $170 billion to $234 billion in net proceeds.