The spread between the average and lowest mortgage rates being offered in the primary market is continuing to widen as lenders try to get customers to take advantage of the record-low rates either for purchasing a home or refinancing. While the average mortgage rates remained in the 4.22 percent to 4.28 percent range for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage across the country, the most aggressive lenders are offering rates as low as 3.88 percent, according to mortgage brokers. The Lending Tree Weekly Mortgage Rate Pulse, which tracks the lowest and average mortgage rates offered by lenders on the company’s network, recently reported...

The Federal Home Loan Bank system has requested that federal regulators clearly and unambiguously exempt the FHLBanks’ long-standing mortgage purchase programs from the government’s emerging risk-retention rule on securitization.In comments submitted to regulators last month on the interagency proposed rule, the 12 FHLBanks signed a joint letter to ensure the Banks’ Acquired Member Assets programs will be exempt under the final rule.

Default technology provider Commerce Velocity, based in Irvine, CA, recently upgraded its Optimizer solution to help servicer clients achieve the new requirements for Fannie Mae’s Quality Right Party Contact initiative. The original version of Optimizer enabled servicers to maximize cash flows from delinquencies, and enforce workout consistency throughout the default management process. By applying net present value calculations, cash flow projections, valuation models, and comprehensive workout guidelines, the technology provides “the most intelligent outcomes possible,” the company said. The Optimal Outcome module monitors...

The Federal Housing Finance Agency needs to tweak its proposed eligibility certification form for prospective directors of the 12 Federal Home Loan Banks, according to comments received by the Finance Agency.

A proposal to rid the agency mortgage programs of some of their real estate-owned property through bulk sales has come under fire from Radar Logic, a housing research firm. The company said house prices continued to drop in June, down 4.7 percent from a year ago, and bulk sales of REO properties could hasten the fall. The Obama administration recently launched a fact-finding mission soliciting ideas and opinions about ways to reduce the massive REO inventories held by the FHA, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. One solution is bulk sales to investors who would likely turn the houses into rentals. Radar Logic is afraid of possible...

Debt issuance for Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Home Loan Banks rose during the second quarter of 2011, while Freddie recorded a decline in new debt during the April to June period.The GSEs collectively issued $726.2 billion in new debt during the second quarter, a 2.6 percent increase from the previous quarter, while GSE debt outstanding at $2.168 trillion declined 4.8 percent from the first quarter.

The government will subsidize Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac new business to the tune of about $51.0 billion over the next 10 years, according to the latest projections from the Congressional Budget Office.CBO’s most recent budget and economic outlook, released in late August, increased its estimate of the subsidy cost for the two GSEs during the period between 2012 to 2021 from the approximate $41.6 billion that the CBO forecast in June.

Several of the prudential management and operations standards recently proposed by the Federal Housing Finance Agency are “duplicative of, or conflict with, current regulatory requirements” and should be further refined before final issuance, according to a comment letter written by the 12 Federal Home Loan Banks.The FHLBanks suggest numerous and significant revisions or clarifications to the proposed rule the FHFA issued in June.

The Obama administration is expected to roll out a more aggressive agency refinance program soon as part of a new economic stimulus package with Wall Street analysts predicting the plan will likely focus on pricing changes at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac or an expansion of the Home Affordable Refinance Program.A recent report by Amherst Securities Group notes that a massive government refinance program “is unlikely, as it could not be implemented without subjecting the GSEs (and implicitly the taxpayer) to an increased level of risk.”

The Federal Housing Finance Agency has issued an interim final regulation with a request for comments on changes to its existing Privacy Act regulations.