VA home-loan guarantee volume rose in the first half of 2018 thanks to a second-quarter surge in purchase business. New VA loan guarantees totaled $89.9 billion at midyear, a 7.5 percent improvement from the same point last year. VA production was even stronger quarter-over-quarter, with $50.9 billion in originations, up a whopping 30.2 percent from the first quarter. Purchase loans accounted for 68.1 percent of VA guarantees in the second quarter, up 23.1 percent from the prior quarter. Purchase for the first six months of 2018 was up 19.5 percent from a year ago. VA refi business struggled in the second quarter as production fell 7.0 percent from the previous period, dropping the overall refi share to 31.9 percent. Most of the damage in VA production in the second quarter was in the Interest Rate Reduction Refinance Loan program, where volume tumbled 42.8 percent from the previous ... [Chart]
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac shareholders are working to make sure their cases against the government don’t get shoved aside after a string of adverse court decisions. Plaintiffs are looking to tweak their complaint to include a challenge based on a ruling in another case that the Federal Housing Finance Agency structure is unconstitutional.
Fannie Mae is in the hunt for a new CEO to replace current chief Timothy Mayopoulos, but finding just the right candidate could prove difficult because of a $600,000 salary cap placed on the position back in 2015 by Congress.
After a brief hiatus while new management took over, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau recently has resumed taking enforcement actions. Attorneys said the settlements look similar to those under the prior leadership, but the enforcement strategy is different.
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