A slowdown in production at Freddie Mac was the main factor behind a decline in total agency MBS issuance in May, according to a new Inside MBS & ABS ranking and analysis. A total of $148.28 billion of single-family agency MBS were issued last month, down 2.6 percent from April’s level. May was the slowest month for agency MBS issuance so far in 2013, with slightly less volume than March’s $148.35 billion. Freddie’s production was...[Includes one data chart]

At least 170 non-agency MBS serviced by Ocwen Financial took combined losses of more than $1.0 billion in May due to accounting for principal forbearance that occurred before July 2012. The reporting issue allowed mezzanine bonds to continue receiving interest payments, and industry participants are concerned that the accounting could be an issue on other non-agency MBS. Moody’s Investors Service said the newly realized losses relate to loss mitigation by Homeward Residential. Ocwen acquired Homeward at the end of 2012. The servicing transfer prompted a disclosure by Ocwen to Wells Fargo, the trustee on the deals previously serviced by Homeward, in the May remittance reports on the deals. Wells said...

Thanks to rising home values and lower delinquencies, investors are gobbling up subprime MBS, causing prices to rise.

By excluding from the points and fees calculation compensation paid by creditors and mortgage brokers to their employees, the bureau prevents some double counting.

The Obama administration has mounted a public relations push, including a recent White House social media buzz, pushing for the HARP 3.0 program.

Don't put too much stock in the new government figures on mortgage hiring. Some firms are cutting back like Pacific Union Financial.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac out of existence, the two GSEs aren’t going anywhere for the near-future, say industry observers. Two bills – one by a Republican GSE hawk filed two weeks ago, the other a bipartisan proposal soon to be submitted that would wind down and replace Fannie and Freddie over a period of 5 to 10 years – have cranked up the volume of chatter about the prospects of GSE reform on Capitol Hill. Don’t hold your breath because nothing has changed, according to financial industry consultant Bert Ely.

Mortgage repurchases and indemnifications soared to a whopping $12.83 billion during the first quarter of 2013, a huge anomalous blip in an otherwise moderating trend. As has been the case over the past few years, industry-wide buyback figures were dramatically skewed by one institution’s settlement. Bank of America recorded a whopping $10.45 billion in mortgage repurchases and indemnifications during the first quarter of 2013, according to a new Inside Mortgage Trends analysis ... [Includes one data chart]

Reports of short sales being the new “order of the day” for servicers appear to be overblown. The proclamations were prompted by a report last week from Fitch Ratings. Banks have indeed increased their use of short sales in lieu of loan modifications when completing loss mitigation on non-agency mortgages. Meanwhile, special servicers largely avoid short sales and short sales on agency mortgages are declining. Short sales performed by the bank servicers on mortgages in non-agency mortgage-backed ...

Residential lenders tend to like the mortgage market in the state of New York because home values there have been steadily improving for years, especially in Manhattan and surrounding areas within a decent commuting distance to the city. But for nonbanks seeking licensing approvals for their loan officers, they would like nothing more than to tell state regulators to take a hike. According to interviews with mortgage executives and some of their attorneys, the Empire State is the pits when it comes to ...