JPMorgan Chase, whose chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon has contemplated leaving the FHA program, originated $1.14 billion during the first half, a 55 percent decline from a year ago.

The sale of Shelter is one of the largest mortgage M&A deals of the past few months and could mark the beginning of an active second half of industry consolidation.

Analysts at FBR & Co. view the ban as an “earnings issue” because “replacement financing would likely be more expensive than existing financing.”

It appears that PennyMac Financial Services is in the market to buy MSRs...

“We’re looking for production and we have the appetite,” said Jeff Lemieux, who heads the third-party lending channel of Bayview. "We’d like to hire them as soon as possible.”

Union Bank and First Republic Bank are the only banks in the top 10 to focus a large majority of their originations on jumbos.

“The new guys are quickly gaining on the traditional players,” said Ginnie president Ted Tozer. “Some have grown from zero to $5 billion to $10 billion overnight. We’re concerned about their infrastructure and capital.”

The top contributors to the deal are New Penn Financial with a 23.1 percent share, EverBank Financial with 20.3 percent and Quicken with 19.8 percent.

The study’s findings challenge certain beliefs about FHA lending, namely that high insurance premiums, lender overlays and low credit scores are denying many qualified borrowers access to the program.