Republicans on Capitol Hill this past week expressed dismay with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac recently transferring $180 million into federal affordable housing programs. In fact, 10-K filings by the two government-sponsored enterprises indicate Fannie has paid $217 million, and Freddie has turned over $165 million for a total of $382 million. By law, both GSEs are required...

When the two GSEs were losing money earlier in the decade, then-Acting FHFA Director Edward DeMarco suspended the contributions before any had ever been made.

DeMarco, by the way, called on Congress to take a “thoughtful” review of the FHA program and Ginnie Mae’s role in housing finance.

There is, however, a 0 to 6 percent fee...

Increases in demand on the FHA single-family program are having collateral implications for the integrity of Ginnie Mae’s MBS programs, including the potential for more fraud, warned the Department of Housing and Urban Development inspector general. Testifying during a recent Senate budget hearing, HUD Inspector General David Montoya said Ginnie issuer defaults historically have been infrequent, involving small to moderate-size issuers. “However, major unanticipated issuer defaults beginning in 2009 have led...

Social Finance, the fledgling “marketplace” lender, is funding enough home mortgages on a monthly basis that it’s now scouting for opportunities in the secondary market, according to lending officials who have met with the firm’s management team. Among the options being considered is raising money to form a real estate investment trust, a vehicle that would provide a balance sheet where whole loans could reside. However, it’s unclear at this point if Social Finance, or “SoFi” as it is known, has any plans for securitizing residential product. Company officials including Michael Tannenbaum, who serves as vice president of mortgages for the startup, and William Jarve, in the firm’s capital markets group, declined...

The Federal Housing Finance Agency this week filed a request to transfer lawsuits brought by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac shareholders in four district courts to the U.S. District Court in Washington. The government-sponsored enterprise regulator hopes to ward off future “copycat” cases and those where plaintiffs may be encouraged to “shop” for the best forum, based on the ruling. FHFA said it is certain that the number of pending complaints challenging the quarterly U.S. Treasury sweep of Fannie and Freddie net income will continue to grow. As a result, the agency said the transfer would be more efficient and benefit the parties and courts. “The claims and relief sought in each of the four related cases are...

After starting 2015 with a net decline in supply of outstanding single-family mortgage securities, the market began to rally and ended the year with a modest gain. A new analysis by Inside MBS & ABS reveals that total residential MBS in the market reached $6.412 trillion at the end of last year, an 0.5 percent increase from the third quarter and up 1.0 percent from yearend 2014. The growing supply of residential MBS slightly outpaced the 0.3 percent increase in home mortgage debt outstanding, resulting in a 64.2 percent securitization rate in the fourth quarter. There are...[Includes two data tables]

A Realtor based in California noted that selling prices are generally increasing, but at widely disparate rates based on location...

There are two sides to the story. A year from now, the agency MBS market could reach the $6.0 trillion mark...