The government-sponsored enterprises plan to expand their risk-sharing activities in a number of ways in 2015, according to officials at the GSEs and the Federal Housing Finance Agency. Kevin Palmer, a vice president of strategic credit costing and structuring at Freddie Mac, said Freddie is set to include a broader group of mortgages in its risk-sharing transactions in an effort to increase the investor base. Fannie has similar plans. The GSEs have issued...
With new issuance faltering in 2014, the net supply of residential MBS in the market declined by 0.3 percent during the second quarter of 2014, according to a new Inside MBS & ABS analysis. MBS outstanding totaled $6.348 trillion at the end of June, wiping out gains made in the second half of last year. It was the lowest MBS outstanding number since 2006. The agency MBS market grew...[Includes three data charts]
In its rebuttal, FHA argues that if the delinquent loans had not been worked out, lenders would have been entitled to $5.2 billion of insurance claims – money the MMIF could ill afford.
The rapid growth of nonbank special servicers since the mortgage crisis has resulted in a concentration of entities controlling the vast majority of loans in need of a work out, which could present some risks for non-agency MBS, according to a report by Fitch Ratings. Fitch cited industry consolidation, increased specialization and regulation as the primary drivers of the concentration shift toward nonbank servicers. “Historically, servicing was concentrated among the largest commercial banks due to their dominant market share in mortgage origination,” the rating service said. “Today, several nonbank servicers have achieved portfolio sizes that have begun to eclipse their banking counterparts.” Fitch noted...
Life for ABS investors got a little easier this week as Morningstar Credit Ratings put out its methodology for U.S. ABS ratings, outlining the principles the firm uses when evaluating, rating and monitoring financial, operating and corporate asset transactions. Morningstar’s analytical framework utilizes seven areas of analysis common to ABS transactions: legal structure, asset quality, transaction structure, credit support, cash flow analysis, originator and servicer quality, and counterparty risk. The analysis begins...
The Federal Housing Finance Agency should direct Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to move toward a common, fungible security while also striving to ensure the government-sponsored enterprises’ safety and soundness and promote liquidity and access to the secondary mortgage market, according to early feedback from industry groups. Last month, the FHFA issued a request for input regarding its strategic plan for fiscal years 2015 through 2019. The FHFA plan identifies three strategic goals for the GSEs: ensuring safe and sound regulated entities; ensuring liquidity, stability and access in housing finance; and managing Fannie’s and Freddie’s ongoing conservatorship. The Mortgage Bankers Association called on...
There’s plenty of consumer demand for loans that don’t meet the standards for qualified mortgages, according to industry participants. But more than a year after the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau established standards for non-QMs, lenders and investors are still trying to determine the liability posed by the mortgages. Jay Lown, president of Cherry Hill Mortgage Investment, a real estate investment trust managed by Stan Middleman, chairman and CEO of Freedom Mortgage, said Freedom is ...
Originations of higher-priced mortgages increased significantly in 2013 compared with the previous year, according to an Inside Nonconforming Markets analysis of Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data released this week. The market share for higher-priced mortgages also more than doubled in 2013 compared with the previous year, but the loans continue to account for a small portion of total originations. Some $35.18 billion in higher-priced mortgages were sold in 2013, up from ... [Includes one data chart]