High churn rates in the VA program lead to higher interest rates for FHA borrowers because loans from the two programs are pooled together in Ginnie Mae MBS. But there’s not a clear path to separate them.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development wants to know whether any statutory changes could improve the programs. Meanwhile, there is no update on the HMBS 2.0 product proposed last year.
One way to get mortgage rates to decline and stay that way is to entice more institutional investors to buy agency MBS. The Federal Reserve is no longer increasing its holdings, but how much room is there at Fannie and Freddie? Answer: more than you might think.
MBS issuance will continue at the GSEs and Ginnie Mae amid a partial shutdown of the federal government, but some changes will be temporarily in place.