We’re hearing unconfirmed reports that the Federal Housing Finance Agency may not hire a chief executive and chairman for the common securitization platform project after all…

How much stock to insiders at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac actually own?

Among the 12 questions that the FHFA asks the public to consider is this: “If the enterprises [Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac] continue to raise g-fees, will overall loan originations decrease?”

Agency issuance of new single-family MBS edged up slightly from April to May, according to a new Inside MBS & ABS analysis of loan-level data. Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae produced a combined $68.66 billion of new MBS last month, although that was only a 2.4 percent increase over April. There are some positives in the underlying data, however. First, purchase-mortgage volume increases outpaced...[Includes two data charts]

Congressional legislative action – something likely out of reach for at least the next two years – is either a part of the problem or the only solution to unraveling the final fate of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, according to two distinctly different schools of thought being argued this week. The rhetorical boxing match pitted Urban Institute Fellow Jim Parrott’s thesis that only a legislative fix by Congress can free the two government-sponsored enterprises from the status quo against Jim Millstein, CEO of Millstein & Co., who contends that the GSEs should emerge recapitalized from conservatorship forthwith, a feat that can and should be executed via “administrative reform.” Parrott fired...

One last thought on Mel Watt, FHFA and expanding the credit box: Members of the GOP who were big boosters of the recently departed Ed DeMarco will probably read the g-fee comment notice and have a fit…

The FHA is reportedly considering reinstating “spot” loans in condominium projects that were not on its approved development list to boost FHA-insured condo lending. Spot loans are currently prohibited, but the FHA is said to be reevaluating the product because of reports of first-time homebuyers having difficulty in obtaining FHA financing for condo unit purchases and seniors seeking reverse mortgages to tap the equity in their units. The National Association of Realtors is trying to break the impasse between the FHA and reluctant board of directors of condo projects that do not have FHA certification to resolve the financing issue. FHA-insured condominium lending has dropped to $884.4 million in the first quarter of 2014, down 70 percent from the $2.98 billion in total originations reported in the first quarter of 2013, according to Inside FHA Lending’s analysis of agency data. Even as the NAR tries to ...

Notably absent from Watt’s first major policy speech as FHFA director last month was any mention of the housing trust funds.

Industry observers believe that FHFA Director Mel Watt – who has been on the job since early January – wants to open up the “credit box” for low- and moderate-income borrowers.

New originations of both refinance loans and purchase mortgages fell sharply from the fourth quarter, with the biggest slump in the refi market, according to a new Inside Mortgage Finance ranking and analysis. An estimated $104 billion of refinance loans were originated in the first quarter, down 45.6 percent from the end of 2013. Compared to a year ago, refi production was down 76.2 percent. Refinance originations hit a cyclical high at the end of 2012 and early 2013, averaging nearly $440 billion per quarter, and it’s been going down steadily since then. With interest rates dropping in recent weeks, some mortgage observers say...[Includes one data chart]