Early indicators suggest that mortgage originations slumped by about 23 percent in the first quarter of 2014, a harbinger of tough times to come for companies that are running on fumes. According to a new Inside Mortgage Finance analysis of loan-level data in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac first-quarter securitizations, primary market originations for the first three months of the year totaled about $235 billion. Unless the pace picks up, 2014 could fail to reach $1 trillion for the first time since 1998. Lender surveys, which are the major factor in Inside Mortgage Finance originations estimates, are underway. Weak origination volume is...
Did the FHFA late last summer/early fall raise concerns regarding a certain nonbank servicer’s capital in regard to a huge portfolio of mortgage servicing rights that it had bought earlier in the year from a megabank?
FHA chief Carol Galante reminded lenders that mortgage premium increases – five hikes from 2008 to 2013 – were necessary to protect the Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund and properly price for the risk the government insurer was taking on.
Roughly 2 percent of depositories said they will cease offering mortgages altogether because of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s ability to repay rule and QM standards.
The biggest decline in MI-insured business was in underwater mortgages that were refinanced while keeping their existing coverage under the Home Affordable Refinance Program.
Another suggestion is to increase the $100,000 threshold for “smaller loans” to $200,000 allowing for mortgage amounts beneath that level to be subject to more workable points-and-fees limits.
Why doesn’t the MBA, NAHB and National Association of Realtors just come out and say what they really mean, which is this: Leave Fannie and Freddie alone, return them to their shareholders and they’ll never buy another ALT A or subprime mortgage again.
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