Sixteen publicly-traded mortgage REITs reported a fair market value of $282.62 billion for their aggregate MBS holdings at December 31.

Agency single-family MBS issuance rose 2.8 percent in February on the back of a huge increase in securitization of seasoned home loans at Freddie Mac, according to a new Inside MBS & ABS ranking and analysis of loan-level MBS data. Fannie Mae MBS issuance fell 3.2 percent from January to February, and Ginnie Mae production was down 12.8 percent. But Freddie Mac issuance jumped by $7.05 billion from January’s level, a gain of 30.8 percent in a month. Freddie securitized...[Includes two data charts]

Nationstar Mortgage has filed a $1 billion shelf registration with the Securities and Exchange Commission, signaling its intention to sell debt securities and other instruments to the general public. But whether the lender/servicer actually uses the shelf is another matter entirely. “The mixed shelf is the company’s first amendment or filing of a new registration statement since May 2013,” noted analyst Kevin Barker of Compass Point Research & Trading. A mixed shelf means Nationstar could issue debt, preferred and common stock, as well as depository shares and warrants. Interestingly, the filing came...

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac should move more quickly and expand key initiatives that are laying the groundwork for mortgage-finance reform, according to a Treasury Department official. In remarks prepared for an industry conference this week, Michael Stegman suggested the government-sponsored enterprises should expand their risk-transfer activities and open up the development of the common securitization platform to non-agency participants. “The near-term CSP initiative would not succeed...

Treasury counselor Michael Stegman wants the common securitization platform project to be opened to the private sector.

The seller was not identified by Phoenix, but in the offering circular the firm is identified as “an independent mortgage banker established in 1990.”

If Fannie and/or Freddie have a negative net worth, investors wouldn’t buy their MBS and if investors don’t buy their MBS we would have financial Armageddon…

HARP volume fell a stunning 75.9 percent in 2014. So is it time to stick a fork in the program and call it a day?

Most mortgage lenders reported solid increases in refinance originations during the fourth quarter of 2014, but the faltering purchase-mortgage sector still accounted for most of their business. A new Inside Mortgage Finance ranking and analysis reveals that refinance originations increased by 16.9 percent from the third to the fourth quarter. Based on securitization figures from Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae, refi activity rose by a more modest 14.0 percent, although these data trail the primary market by one or two months. Meanwhile, purchase-mortgage originations were...[Includes five data charts]

The Federal Housing Finance Agency this week directed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to provide a lot more transparency in the fledgling process of selling nonperforming loans, or NPLs, and to make sure borrowers are taken care of in the process. Freddie this week announced details on its second NPL sale; Fannie has not yet done such a transaction. But both government-sponsored enterprises are expected to emphasize selling their less-liquid assets, such as NPLs and non-agency mortgage securities, as they continue to downsize their retained portfolios. The new guidelines cover...