When rates spiked this week, margin calls to MBS investors increased. Lenders are nervous but next will will be the real test, mortgage executives told Inside Mortgage Finance.

Banks and thrifts continued to push a high volume of home mortgages into the secondary market during the first three months of 2013, but the pace was slowing, according to a new Inside Mortgage Trends analysis of call report data. The industry reported $395.8 billion in single-family mortgage sales during the first quarter, down 5.1 percent from the previous period. It was a stronger sales volume than during the first quarter of 2012, however, and ranked as the fourth largest ... [Includes one data chart]

Although Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae are reviewing recently originated mortgages more closely than they have in the past, the bulk of the whopping $13.21 billion in mortgage repurchases reported by the two government-sponsored enterprises during the first quarter came from loans originated years ago. A new Inside Mortgage Trends analysis of repurchase activity reported by the two GSEs in Securities and Exchange Commission filings shows that 80.0 percent of the buybacks recorded in ... [Includes two data charts]

In late May, in the time span of about 10 days, Bexil American Mortgage of San Diego saw its founder and national sales manager depart – not a good sign for a relatively young company that has been originating loans for less than two years. About a week after the news broke about the two men, the parent company reported a $7.1 million loss for the year. John Robbins, the founder and CEO of Bexil American Mortgage, told Inside Mortgage Trends that, “When you have a major shareholder disagree with ...

Residential debt outstanding fell slightly in the first quarter, but the GSE/FHA share of the market continued to grow.

The pool of mortgages in Shellpoint's first deal has a combined loan-to-value ratio of 65 percent, slightly lower than other recent non-agency MBS.

When rates rise, loan officers begin to bite their nails, unless they are heavily reliant on purchase-money loans.

The Corker-Warner GSE bill could see the light of day next Tuesday. Meanwhile, HLSS is selling more shares to the public.

Mortgage lenders that sell loans to the government-sponsored enterprises are seeing a significant increase in the volume of buyback reviews on recently originated mortgages, according to a new analysis of repurchase activity disclosures by Inside Mortgage Trends, an affiliated newsletter. Through the first three months of 2013, GSE sellers had already repurchased some $80.6 million of loans securitized by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac during 2012. That was more than double the volume of repurchases of mortgages originated in 2011. Loan quality didn’t deteriorate...

Investors have significantly reduced their home-purchase activity in recent months, according to the latest Campbell/Inside Mortgage Finance HousingPulse Tracking Survey. Current homeowners and first-time homebuyers have filled the void and are much more likely to finance a home purchase with a mortgage compared to investors. Investors accounted for 20.2 percent of home purchases in May, based on the three-month moving average, the third consecutive decline in investor share. Market share for both current homeowners and first-time homebuyers increased in recent months, with current homeowners accounting for 43.8 percent of home purchases in May. The trends present...