Ginnie Mae servicing volume was up modest 1.5 percent in the fourth quarter of 2012 and 9.1 percent higher from the previous year, with some eye-popping increases reported by several servicers. The top servicers of Ginnie Mae mortgage-backed securities reported $1.31 trillion in government-backed mortgage debt outstanding in the fourth quarter, up from $1.29 trillion from the previous quarter. Wells Fargo led the pack with $407.2 billion after posting gains on a quarterly and year-over-year basis while second-place Bank of America recorded a total of ... [1 chart]

Some underwriters in the private mortgage insurance space are rolling out new technology in their efforts to reacquire market share lost to the FHA even as market tidal forces continue to shift in favor of private MIs. Radian Guaranty, a subsidiary of Radian Group, has introduced its MI rate finder application, Radian Rates, for Android smart phone devices on Google Play. Designed as a mobile version of the company’s existing online rate finder, Radian Rates checks eligibility, compares options and automatically calculates the MI rate depending on the ...

The Department of Housing and Urban Development is tightening its oversight of principals in FHA-insured multifamily properties by requiring lenders to clear all requests for additional insurance commitments that exceed $250 million with HUD before approval. Recently issued guidance describes how lenders can obtain pre-approval from HUD when principals have FHA-insured assets greater than $250 million, including the proposed additional commitments. The department is concerned that FHA may be taking on too big a risk with such principals. HUD pre-approval is required to ...

The long awaited recovery in the jumbo MBS market may finally be here as more banks plan to issue securities.

Quicken is buying a large MSR portfolio from the government-owned Ally Bank and more deals may be in the works.

The Federal Reserve will continue to gobble up MBS and other long-term bonds, which means mortgage rates should stay low.

The FHFA IG, in a new report, is critical of how Freddie Mac is managing its services regarding consumer complaints.

Nationstar Mortgage, a fast growing residential servicer, is losing the man in charge of default processing at the firm.

Industry veteran Sy Naqvi is stepping down as CEO of PNC Mortgage.

Fannie Mae’s delay in releasing its 2012 earnings underscores the sharp turnaround in the con-servatorships of the two government-sponsored enterprises, which lately have begun spewing earnings like the good old days.Freddie Mac, which managed to get its reporting done on time, recorded a whopping $16.0 bil-lion in net income last year, and there’s widespread speculation that Fannie Mae will beat that mark with room to spare.