Ginnie Mae’s latest efforts to rein in serial VA refinancing and rapid prepayments in mortgage-backed securities pools augur additional changes to pooling and refi requirements at Ginnie and the Department of Veterans Affairs, analysts said.

The Department of Housing and Urban Affairs plans to act on two new rules in 2018 relating to allowable fees and charges on VA loans as well as the type of loans that are “qualified mortgages.”

FHFA's Mel Watt: "While it is apparent that a draw will be necessary for each enterprise if tax legislation results in a reduction to the corporate tax rate, FHFA considers the $3 billion capital reserve sufficient to cover other fluctuations in income in the normal course of each Enterprise’s business.”

Mel Watt continued: “We, therefore, contemplate that going forward enterprise dividends will be declared and paid beyond the $3 billion capital reserve in the absence of exigent circumstances.”

Beginning in tax year 2018, a deduction won’t be allowed for interest paid on home-equity loans unless proceeds from the loan are used to improve the residence…

The FHFA noted that if another credit scoring model is introduced, the entire mortgage finance industry will incur increased operation and transition costs…

Washington Federal will increase wages by 5.0 percent for employees earning less than $100,000 a year…

Washington Analysis believes the FHFA/Treasury move is a “clear positive for shareholders in the GSEs, particularly holders of junior preferred shares..."

The correspondent share of jumbo originations has risen in the past year while the retail share declined, according to a new analysis by Inside Nonconforming Markets. The survey found that correspondent production accounted for 18.1 percent of jumbo originations in the third quarter of 2017, up from a 14.3 percent share in the third quarter of 2016. During that time, the retail share of the lenders’ jumbo production fell from 81.3 percent to ... [Includes one data chart]