The one bright spot in the residential mortgage market last year was purchase-mortgage lending, which provided at least a faint glow in an otherwise dreary year for lenders. [Includes four data charts.]

Reports that Radian Group was in talks with private equity firms for a potential sale delivered a fillip to the company’s shares though those discussions fell through.

FHA and VA business saw a modest uptick in market share during the fourth quarter of 2018, but last year was all about the surge of the private mortgage insurance industry. [Includes two data charts.]

The flow of conventional mortgages with private mortgage insurance coverage into Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgage-backed securities fell sharply in the fourth quarter – tracking a broader slump in purchase-mortgage business. [Includes three data charts.]

The Department of Housing and Urban Development has issued a final rule streamlining single-family home-warranty requirements for FHA insurance.

Genworth Mortgage Insurance has joined the private MI fledgling risk-based pricing club with the launch of its new proprietary risk-based pricing engine, GenRATE. GenRATE allows customers to opt for risk-based pricing or choose from Genworth’s standard published rate card. “Demand for more dynamic pricing is growing,” said Rohit Gupta, Genworth’s president and chief executive officer. “Offering the option of either rate card or risk-based pricing is the best way to show lenders that ...

The FHA’s Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund is generally healthy but for its Home Equity Conversion Mortgage program, according to the latest FHA audit of the MMIF. In its 2018 report to Congress this week, the Department of Housing and Urban Development had good and bad news regarding the financial condition of the insurance fund. The good news is that the economic value of the MMIF, which backs the FHA’s single-family loan programs, increased to $34.7 billion in fiscal 2018 from $26.7 billion a year ago. Total capital resources rose to $49.2 billion from $40.9 billion during the same period. For the fourth consecutive year, the fund exceeded its statutory capital reserve ratio of 2.00 percent. The ratio rose to 2.76 percent in 2018 from 2.18 percent last year. Premium reductions, had they been in effect, would have reduced the fund’s economic net worth and dropped its capital ratio, industry ...

A memorandum of understanding is in the works at the Department of Housing and Urban Development to clarify the use of the False Claims Act in FHA enforcement. At the same time, the department is considering seeking statutory authority for the Mortgagee Review Board to impose stiffer penalties on lenders for violations that do not require a False Claims Act response. (See following story.) During a public policy luncheon hosted by the Washington-based Women in Housing and Finance this week, HUD Assistant Secretary and FHA Commissioner Brian Montgomery said the draft MOU would provide a “level of fairness” in terms of whether the FCA or some other mechanism would be appropriate. Montgomery did not discuss specifics but said the memo would ensure that HUD has a say in what type of offense would qualify for a false claim. Montgomery gave no timeframe for when the ...

Private mortgage insurers expanded their combined footprint in the primary MI market during the third quarter mostly because of a sharp downturn in VA home loan guaranty activity. [Includes two data charts.]

Ginnie Mae officials would welcome a return of commercial banks to the program, but they are not planning on it. Instead, the agency is looking the other way: at expanding financing options for nonbank portfolios of mortgage servicing rights. The current version of Ginnie’s acknowledgement agreement has been successful, enabling nonbank servicers to arrange MSR financing for virtually their entire portfolios, said Michael Drayne, a senior vice president at Ginnie, during the Residential Mortgage Finance Symposium sponsored by the Structured Finance Industry Group this week in New York. Although a number of banks are financing nonbank servicing portfolios, many are still not participating, he said. Karen Gelernt, a partner at Alston & Bird, noted that many banks continue to have anxiety about what will happen if a servicer defaults on its Ginnie requirements. Speaking as moderator on a panel with ...