Over the past four years, the number of insurance companies joining Federal Home Loan Banks has grown by an average of about 10 percent as several insurance groups have substantially increased their borrowing capacity within the FHLBank system, and there is more where that came from, according to a report by Fitch Ratings. Among the 17 top insurance company FHLBank borrowers at year-end 2012, Fitch noted that only one was not a life insurance company. "Life insurance companies dominate insurance company FHLB advance usage, mostly due to the presence of housing-related assets in their investment portfolios,” said Fitch. “Life insurers are usually more likely than other insurers to invest in this sector due to their need for long-duration investment assets to match against the long-duration and cash flow characteristics of their insurance liabilities.”

Mortgages modified by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac performed about the same for a year after modification but Freddie’s loans had a slightly worse performance starting some 18 months after modification, according to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. The OCC Mortgage Metrics Report for the First Quarter of 2013 noted that Fannie and Freddie loans each had a 17 percent re-default rate six months after modification. The two GSEs were similarly tied at the 12-month mark, each posting a 24.4 percent re-default rate. Daylight begins to crack between the two GSEs at 18 months, with Fannie’s rate at an even 28.0 percent compared to Freddie’s 28.2 percent. At 24 months, Fannie’s mods saw a 29.4 percent re-default rate compared to Freddie’s 29.9 percent. The gap widens at 36 months when Fannie stood at 35.2 percent compared to Freddie’s 36.3 percent rate.

The linchpin for a viable and comprehensive National Mortgage Database is to ensure that the identities of both mortgage borrowers and mortgage servicers from whom the statistical information is collected for analysis are protected behind a firm wall of security countermeasures, according to project architects. During a recent webinar sponsored by the Urban Institute, Federal Housing Finance Agency National Mortgage Database Project Director Robert Avery told attendees that privacy is a paramount concern in order to make the project work. “The challenge is to protect borrower/lender personally identifiable information and provide useful data,” said Avery.

Roughly $495 billion of residential MBS and non-mortgage ABS were issued during the second quarter of 2013, according to a new Inside MBS & ABS market analysis.

The silver lining in the 2Q numbers is a strengthening home-purchase market. Fannie and Freddie securitized $81.7 billion of home-purchase mortgages during the second quarter, their highest quarterly volume since the second quarter of 2009.

The review found that 37 percent of the mortgages were “deficient” and just 19 percent met FHA requirements.

Credit Suisse issued a non-agency jumbo MBS backed predominantly by seasoned mortgages from First Republic Bank.

Well, at least the White House is happy. Fannie and Freddie turned over $66.4 billion to the government at the end of June, money that will help reduce the deficit.

The Federal Reserve will go ahead with proposed rule changes related to mortgage servicing rights, but with what it calls a “lengthy transition period.”

Stonegate Mortgage, a fast growing lender, wants to go public. Meanwhile, thanks to the Fed, MSR sales could be massive.