Fannie Mae has not treated its foreclosed properties in African-American and Latino communities the same as those in predominately white neighborhoods, according to a federal lawsuit filed this week by the National Fair Housing Alliance. The NFHA, along with 20 fair housing and civil rights groups, said its investigation found signs of racial discrimination when it comes to the upkeep and marketing of Fannie’s real estate-owned properties in 38 metropolitan areas across the country. These properties in minority neighborhoods were blighted...
Two weeks back, United Wholesale Mortgage removed a 25 basis point charge it levied on conventional conforming loans when the borrower opts to manage his or her own real estate taxes and homeowners insurance. (Those payment chores are usually handled by the servicer.) Since making the change, escrow waivers have jumped 12 percent at the nation’s largest wholesaler/broker lender. Company CEO Mat Ishbia declared that other lenders should follow suit if they haven’t already. “I think that overall this is good for the industry as a whole,” he said in an interview. For now, the reaction to UWM’s fee waiver has been...
The third quarter saw a sharp increase in refinance originations that appeared to give a bigger boost to government and conventional-conforming production than the jumbo market got.
Fannie Mae added: “Through these actions we have demonstrated our continued dedication to providing quality care to all communities. And we remain firmly committed to continuing to provide such attention to our REO properties moving forward.”
New production of agency single-family MBS in November was down 8.2 percent from the previous month, according to a preliminary Inside MBS & ABS analysis. Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae issued a combined $134.70 billion of single-family MBS in November, the lowest monthly total since July. A decline wasn’t unexpected: the housing market is on the downslope of its seasonal trend and rising mortgage interest rates are taking some of the steam out of the refinance market. What is a little unusual is...[Includes two data tables]
Shortly after being nominated by President-elect Donald Trump to be his Treasury secretary, investment banker Steve Mnuchin midweek dropped a bombshell on the mortgage market: Ending the conservatorships of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac would be a top priority. For the most part, the mortgage industry cheered the news, believing that at the very least, Mnuchin would preserve the federal guaranty on existing MBS and into the future. In fact, the market seems to be betting on it. But now comes...
The average daily trading volume in agency MBS hit a yearly high of $224.4 billion in October, according to figures compiled by the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association. With liquidity improving, the year-to-date average now stands at $206.6 billion, compared to $198.7 billion in 2015. The November reading should be out by the end of next week. Investors might be...