Since the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union a week ago, interest rates in the U.S. have been steadily falling, causing a rally in MBS prices. According to market watchers, Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac MBS values for new securities haven’t been this good since January 2015. Meanwhile, mortgage rates touched a three-year low the past few days with some primary market lenders making new loans at 3.25 percent and no points. As Inside MBS & ABS went to press, the benchmark 10-year Treasury was yielding...

The FHFA promises it will provide regular updates on NPL sales going forward…

The product for sale is concentrated in Arizona, California, Florida and Texas.

A new report from Deutsche Bank estimates that a 3.5 percent rate on mortgages “puts roughly two-thirds of borrowers in the money to refinance…"

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced this week that an undisclosed number of lenders were found to be improperly disclosing interest-only payments on IO bridge mortgages, in violation of Regulation Z. The CFPB said the inaccurate disclosures were due to a software error as the lenders erroneously included a portion of the monthly payment amount that was to be applied to fees financed into the principal balance ... [Includes six briefs]

FHA condominium lending fell in the first quarter to $1.6 billion, down 8.6 percent from the prior quarter. The volume decline was the second in a row for the sector, when production fell 20.3 percent from the third to the fourth quarter last year. On the other hand, year-over-year volume saw a whopping 35.3 percent increase. The top 10 FHA condo lenders were dominated by nonbanks, with Quicken Loans leading the field. The only bank among the top 10 was Wells Fargo, which landed in third place with $45.3 million despite a 35.7 percent drop in condo loan originations in the first quarter. Leader Quicken Loans closed the quarter with $73.6 million, while second-ranked Freedom Mortgage Corp. clocked in with $55.6 million. Fourth-place LoanDepot originated $33.7 million in FHA condo loans, while Broker Solutions rounded out the top five category with $31.1 million. In November last year, FHA announced ... [ 1 chart ]

The payment-option ARMs at the center of this pilot program currently are out for bid.

Ares said it will use the cash from the sale of its mortgage banking subsidiary to its “principal lending portfolio.”

A borrower recently filed a lawsuit seeking class-action status against Fannie Mae related to an inquiry made into his credit file after his bankruptcy process was completed. Some attorneys said the case hints at a new type of lawsuit on the horizon stemming from the Fair Credit Reporting Act. Grant Bailey alleges that the government-sponsored enterprise made unauthorized inquiries into his credit after bankruptcy released him from any debt he owed to Fannie. Bailey filed documents in federal court on June 15 stating that the inquiry without his consent was not permissible under the FCRA and did not serve any legitimate business need. These allegations represent...

A new 1 percent home loan product has quietly hit the market to help qualified, cash-strapped borrowers overcome one of the biggest obstacles to homeownership: downpayment. With significant variation in details, the 1 percent down mortgages offered by Quicken Loans and Guaranteed Rate stem from their partnerships with Freddie Mac and are structured as part of Freddie’s Home Possible Advantage program. In Quicken’s version, the borrower pays...