Along with nearly all mortgage indicators, the flow of insured home loans into agency mortgage-backed securities slowed significantly during the first quarter of 2018, but early indicators suggest the FHA market may have been somewhat more resilient. [Includes three data charts.]
The Department of Veterans Affairs is close to issuing a final anti-churning rule to better protect veterans from predatory lending practices as well as developing an end-to-end system to monitor loan performance from origination to servicing.
With mortgage production coming under pressure in early 2018, some lenders are doing what might seem chancy: paying large signing bonuses to top-producing loan officers.
At his first appearance before Congress as acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Mick Mulvaney restated his desire to reform the agency, while defending his leadership from Democrats’ harsh accusations that he is undermining the bureau.
Pershing Square Holdings, one of the largest speculators in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac common stock, is doubling down on its investment in the two government-sponsored enterprises by taking a different tack: Instead of increasing its positions in the common, it’s been buying up the junior preferred as well.
Home-price increases continued uninterrupted in early 2018 despite predictions by some industry analysts that tax reform enacted in December could have a negative impact on the housing market. Analysts add that the full impact of tax reform has yet to play out, though early returns look promising.
The American Federation of Teachers has threatened to end a mortgage partnership with Wells Fargo unless the bank stops providing support and financial services to the National Rifle Association and gun manufacturers.
Fitch said the $3 billion reserve should be sufficient to cover income volatility during “the normal course of business, as seen when interest-rate volatility results in valuation adjustments within the GSEs’ derivative portfolios.”
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