Come next year, Freddie Mac will assess lenders a fee of $7,500 if they fail to deliver mortgage loans with an aggregate principal balance of more than $5 million.
Even as industry chatter increases about an effort to extend the eligibility date of the Home Affordable Refinance Program, analysts speculate that more HARP may be too much of a good thing for the mortgage market. Analysts at Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cite evidence of a creeping goal line to move back by 12 months the June 1, 2009, cut-off date for HARP eligibility. KBW cites a Saturday morning address by President Obama earlier this month on the subject of refinance. While he did not specifically mention extending HARP, we think an announcement could be coming over the next few weeks to extend the eligibility back one year, said KBW. More telling, said BAML, is...
When was the last time a financial institution operating under a government conservatorship started a new company, one that potentially stands to make a bunch of money, given the rapidly improving mortgage market? Answer: Never. This and other questions are being asked by mortgage executives who are trying to track the progress of the Federal Housing Finance Agencys common securitization platform, a joint venture between Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. FHFA officials...
Freddie Mac this week issued $1.04 billion of MBS backed by modified loans, making a small dent in the government-sponsored enterprises portfolio of distressed mortgages. The securities were issued under a new MBS prefix reserved just for modified loans, and Freddie officials indicated that the securities would be held in portfolio rather than sold in the market. All of the modified loans are fixed-rate mortgages, although $138.2 million of the loans were originally adjustable-rate mortgages. Most of the loan mods have 30-year terms. The loans in the first batch of mod MBS were originated...