The Federal Housing Finance Agency proposed minor revisions to its single-family and multifamily housing goals for 2018 through 2020 to push Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to continue helping low-income borrowers. The FHFA acknowledged that Fannie and Freddie are challenged when it comes to making credit available for the low-income market. Both government-sponsored enterprises have fallen short of the market in the low-income and very low-income purchase goal almost every year since 2013, the regulator noted. Most of the single-family goals would remain...[Includes one data table]

Kittle’s resume includes a stint on MBA’s board of directors. He also served as chairman of the trade group’s political action committee...

“In a normal [commercial] bank acquisition, senior managers usually get a big payday,” said former FHLBank Chicago President Alex Pollock. “But in this case, if you merge [with another FHLB] you could lose your job.”

In California, the average Fannie/Freddie loan was $311,992 in 1Q17 compared to $307,302 in the first quarter of 2016.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s recommendation that it gain authority to oversee nonbanks didn’t go over too well with some in the mortgage industry. The GSE regulator argued that oversight of nonbank mortgage servicers only happens via contractual provisions when possible. In the FHFA’s Annual Report to Congress, it said other federal safety and soundness regulators are allowed statutory authority to examine companies that provide services to depository institutions. David Stevens, the Mortgage Bankers Association’s president and CEO, questions the purpose of the FHFA recommendation and said it would only lead to more unnecessary regulation.

Joint Trade Letter Requests Comment Extension on Language Access. Eight trade groups, including the American Bankers Association and Mortgage Bankers Association, wrote the Federal Housing Finance Agency this week asking for a 45-day extension to comment on FHFA’s Request for Input on Improving Language Access in Mortgage Lending and Servicing. “The RFI reflects the breadth and difficulties of this issue, as it asks for extensive information,” the groups said, adding that the deadline also coincides with other RFIs. Fannie Announces Two CIRTs on $19.8 Billion of Single-Family Loans. Fannie Mae announced this week that it has completed the second set of traditional Credit Insurance Risk Transfer transactions of...

California remained the top state for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac activity in the first three months of 2017 as volume reached $42.92 billion, according to a new Inside The GSEs analysis. And that’s higher than the $36.18 billion in volume the Golden State had in the first quarter of 2016. Texas trailed in second place with $14.22 billion in volume, up from the $12.43 billion in volume a year earlier. Rounding out the top five for GSE volume were Florida ($12.14 billion), Colorado ($8.62 billion) and New York, ($8.32 billion.) Also in California, the average Fannie and Freddie loan was $311,992 in the first quarter, an increase from the average loan size of $307,302 in the first quarter of 2016.

Leading Republicans and Democrats on the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee this week launched an ambitious effort to draft a bipartisan housing-finance reform bill, and possibly approve it by year end. Several lawmakers from both sides of the aisle cited a growing consensus about how that reform should be undertaken, with most agreeing on the preservation of the to-be-announced market and the need for an explicit government guarantee for MBS backed by conventional mortgages. Committee Chairman Mike Crapo, R-ID, listed...

The Federal Housing Finance Agency this week held a one-day workshop on the single-family rental market, a sector in which Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could become bigger players depending on how much their regulator allows them to do. According to industry officials, both government-sponsored enterprises have proposals pending with the agency for financing single-family rental operators. The FHFA, Fannie and Freddie all declined to comment on what’s in those proposals. According to an agenda of the meeting provided to Inside MBS & ABS, speakers at the workshop included...

FUN FACT: Between 2000 and 2007, roughly $2.726 trillion of subprime residential loans were originated nationwide. Last year, just $2.0 billion were funded.