Residential mortgage lending fell sharply in the second quarter, sinking to levels not seen since the depth of the financial market meltdown in late 2008. Lenders originated an estimated $265.0 billion in 1-4 family mortgages during the second quarter, down 18.5 percent from the first three months of the year. Production barely topped the $260.0 billion in mortgage originations posted in the fourth quarter of 2008, which was the lowest quarterly out-put since early 2000. Third-quarter production appears to be ... [includes two data charts]

Mortgage industry officials are pressing the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to create a true legal safe harbor as it takes over a rulemaking project to implement ability-to-pay requirements enacted as part of the Dodd-Frank Act. Although the Federal Reserve drafted the proposed ability-to-pay rule, it did not take a firm stand on defining the legal protection lenders will get from originating “qualified mortgages.” Late last week, the project – which implements amendments to the Truth in Lending Act – was passed on to the CFPB. The Fed proposed rule contains ...

Thanks to low mortgage rates, the government share of the home purchase market rose in June, according to new numbers compiled from the Campbell/Inside Mortgage HousingPulse Tracking Survey. But the latest survey also highlighted several factors that are likely to put downward pressure on home prices in the balance of this year. Mortgage rates have been falling for the past several months, dipping to below 4.5 percent in June for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages financed through Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and FHA, Inside Mortgage Finance’s weekly sampling of rates reveals. This has helped ... [contains one graph]

The U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington last week struck down a recent federal rule drafted to implement provisions in the Dodd-Frank Act, claiming that the agency did not properly weigh the economic costs and benefits of the new rule. As regulators across Washington, including the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, press to meet their Dodd-Frank mandates, opponents of the controversial law are turning to litigation over the rulemaking process to stymie new regulations. The appellate court action involved a Securities and Exchange Commission rule intended to allow ...

Some federally regulated depository institutions are scrambling to meet a July 29 deadline to register with the Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System and Registry to avoid possible sanctions by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Although the covered institutions have begun registering their mortgage loan originators as required by the Secure and Fair Enforcement for Mortgage Licensing Act, there is some confusion about other employees whose mortgage-related responsibilities are not as clear cut as those of MLOs, said compliance experts. Such employees include those who ...

Industry efforts to postpone a scheduled reduction in the high-cost loan limits for Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the FHA this fall may be gaining traction, but legislative insiders say the sound and fury surrounding the current debt limit talks have crowded out all other issues at the moment. Last week, the Mortgage Bankers Association joined the National Association of Realtors and the National Association of Home Builders in calling on Congress to act to extend the higher temporary loan limits for at least another year. The central argument of MBA and the other trade groups is that ...

Equipment and automotive ABS issuance may flirt with new record highs this year or next as the 2008 market collapse fallout dissipates and the benefits of solid underwriting continue to accrue, some leading industry executives said this week. Equipment ABS has rebounded substantially, according to Julie Schlueter, who is responsible for issuance of structured products and unsecured bonds at Case New Holland Global, a major manufac-turer of agricultural and construction equipment, and its captive finance subsidiary, CNH Capital. In 2007, new issuance in the sector exceeded ...

Federal regulators are aiming for a delicate balance in new securitization rules that will nudge the mortgage industry toward new non-agency MBS issuance, including making sure there is enough collateral to provide a sustainable volume of new deals. The Government Accountability Office this week released a new report on the impact of the Dodd-Frank Act on the residential mortgage market, confirming the analysis by federal regulators that the proposed risk-retention rule would leave a significant share of the mortgage market outside the qualified residential mortgage definition. The GAO said that about 80 percent of ... [includes two data charts]

A year old this week, the Dodd-Frank Act remains as controversial as the day it was signed into law as critics continue trying to water down its impact by cutting funding for its implementation. Before the financial crisis, regulators weren’t properly funded to do their jobs, said Ben Bernanke, chairman of the Federal Reserve, during a hearing this week in the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee. While the Dodd-Frank Act “does cover a lot” of the gaps, “quality is more important than quantity,” he said. But if money continues to be cut, it will be severely ...

The House Financial Services Committee this week passed legislation repealing a provision in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act that increased the liability of credit rating agencies for ratings they provide on asset-backed securities offerings. H.R. 1539, the “Asset-Backed Market Stabilization Act of 2011,” would restore Rule 436(g) is-sued by the Securities and Exchange Commission, which exempted nationally recognized statistical rating organizations, or NRSROs, from expert liability when they provide ratings for ...