Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac saw a slight decline in their single-family mortgage business during the first three months of 2016 – in fact, it was the slowest quarter in nearly two years – according to a new analysis and ranking by Inside Mortgage Finance. The two government-sponsored enterprises issued $172.97 billion of single-family mortgage-backed securities during the first quarter of this year, a 3.4 percent decline from the fourth quarter of 2015. It was the slowest three-month volume since the second quarter of 2014, and the fourth-lowest output since the GSEs were put in conservatorship back in 2008. The slowdown stemmed...[Includes three data tables]

Although interest rates have been trending downward for much of the year, it hasn’t stopped mortgage firms from selling one of their most prized assets: mortgage servicing rights. According to a new tally from Inside Mortgage Finance, almost $27 billion in MSR auctions have been announced since March 1, with some bulk deals sized as high as $6.2 billion dollars. At least 16 offerings have been announced...

United Guaranty last week filed papers for an initial public offering with the Securities and Exchange Commission as a first step to split from its parent company, American International Group, Inc. UG, the mortgage insurance subsidiary of AIG, has filed a proposed aggregate offering of $100 million of common stock but pricing has not been determined. The IPO will not launch until later this year, but if the weak IPO market picks up soon, “it would change things a great deal,” according to an analysis by investment research firm Seeking Alpha. In late January, AIG announced...

One servicing broker had this to say about the all the new offerings: “There’s a lot of deals out there now – and they seem to be getting done.”

FHFA chief Mel Watt is expected to issue a final decree this month…

This so-called agency “patch” was set up to last for seven years, or until 2021...

CSS, a joint venture of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, is hiring at its main site in Bethesda, MD, as well as its office in Pasadena, CA.

Of course, just because five industry vets have issued a white paper, that doesn’t mean it can readily yield into legislation.

In a follow-up development to earlier reports of the demise of W.J. Bradley Mortgage as a result of the CFPB’s integrated disclosure rule, affiliated newsletter IMFnews reported last week that at least $20 million worth of jumbo loans originally funded by the lender have hit the TRID “scratch-and-dent” market, citing an investor who plays in the space. The loans were offered by Texas Capital Bank, which several sources have identified as a key warehouse lender to WJB, a now defunct privately held non-depository. Early reports on the company’s voluntary closure suggest that TRID errors on non-agency mortgages played a key role in the firm’s demise. Sources contend that a few months back WJB tried to sell at least $30 million ...

Fannie Launches Marketing Center. Fannie Mae’s new Marketing Center, introduced this week, is a free online tool providing lenders and other housing professionals access to a variety of customizable marketing materials including HomeReady mortgage, HARP, and more. Freddie’s Second ACIS CTR of 2016: Freddie Mac announced its latest ACIS credit risk transaction, which is its second for 2016. This new transaction provides credit loss protection up to a combined maximum limit of approximately $336 million of losses on single-family loans. White House GSE Advisor Steps Down. White House senior policy advisor on housing and GSE issues Michael Stegman is expected to step down from his post sometime this week, according to industry sources.