The Obama administration last week pushed the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Federal Housing Finance Agency to consider reducing the high-cost conforming loan limits beginning in 2013. However, significant opposition from Realtors, home builders and members on both sides of the aisle in Congress has prevented previously planned declines. “In order to reduce the government’s footprint over several years, we recommend allowing FHA loan limits to fall at the end of 2013 as currently scheduled,” the Obama administration said. “Beyond that, HUD and FHFA should closely examine using their existing authorities to reduce loan limits further consistent with the pace of the recovery, market developments, and the administration’s principles and transition plan for housing finance reform.” In 2008, Congress increased...
As of the midway point in 2013, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were only slightly ahead of the pace they will need to maintain this year to reach portfolio-shrinkage targets set by their regulators, according to a new Inside MBS & ABS analysis. Under the revised terms of their bailout agreements, the two government-sponsored enterprises are required to reduce their retained portfolios by 15.0 percent by the end of this year. Through the first six months of 2013, the GSEs had shrunk their mortgage portfolios by 8.7 percent. But the Federal Housing Finance Agency has also directed...[Includes one data chart]
Many investors that bought into Freddie Mac’s recent $500 million risk-sharing transaction are looking forward to future credit-risk investing opportunities with the government-sponsored enterprises. And investors that stayed away from the deal could be swayed by expected tweaks to the risk-sharing deals mandated by the Federal Housing Finance Agency. Freddie said about 50 investors participated in its Structured Agency Credit Risk Debt Notes offering, including mutual funds, hedge funds, real estate investment trusts, pension funds, banks, insurance companies and credit unions. Some companies had to reduce their planned investments because the deal was oversubscribed. “We put...
Although additional defendants sued by the Federal Housing Finance Agency are expected to sooner or later cut deals to settle fraud charges over the sale of non-agency MBS to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, banks with larger exposures may calculate that their best bet is to let it play out in court, according to a new report by Fitch Ratings. Fitch noted that the FHFA’s announcement last month that UBS Americas will pay some $885 million to settle claims concerning MBS that UBS sold to the two government-sponsored enterprises is a significant event as other defendants crunch the numbers before deciding whether to proceed with a lengthy and expensive trial or to cut their losses. “Although not necessarily setting a formal precedent, the high settlement costs to UBS relative to the outstanding portfolio amount could lead...
Although Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are at near records on issuing bonds backed by multifamily mortgages, the Federal Housing Finance Agency is now soliciting comments from the public on how to pare the role of the government-sponsored enterprises in that business. The agency recently published notice that it wants input from the industry in evaluating “alternatives for further contracting the multifamily business” and is seeking views “on the potential market impact of various strategies.” According to figures provided to Inside MBS & ABS, Fannie is...
Fannie Mae will lower its maximum LTV. Mortgage insurance firms are not happy. Meanwhile, NAMB blames shrinking application volumes on summer vacations.
Recent public comments by President Obama and Congressional leaders have seemingly re-energized the debate over housing finance reform even though some are questioning the cashiering of the now profitable GSEs. But as lawmakers draft and/or refine dueling bills, it remains to be seen whether summer recess chatter will translate into an actionable legislative result this fall, say industry observers. In a highly anticipated speech last week, the president didn’t break much new ground in calling for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to be wound down through a “responsible transition.” However, Obama listed among his key reform principles that private capital should be in a first-loss position and the government should provide an appropriately priced, explicit government guaranty to ensure continued access to the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage.
When the government took control of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac almost five years ago, the thought of securitizing multifamily loans had already been planted, but both preferred the idea of holding the paper in portfolio for obvious reasons: high returns and ultra-low delinquencies. Today, both GSEs are securitizing a record amount of MF mortgage-backed securities – but all of that is about to change with the Federal Housing Finance Agency forcing them to shrink their balance sheet holdings including multifamily. Moreover, FHFA is now soliciting comments from the public on how to whittle down the GSEs’ role in the MF business. The agency recently published notice that it wants input in evaluating “alternatives for further contracting the multifamily business” and is seeking views “on the potential market impact of various strategies.”
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are eliminating or tweaking certain servicing initiatives, the two GSEs announced last week in separate bulletins. Effective Aug.1, the two enterprises have eliminated the complete Borrower Response Package and Delinquency Improvement Performance Standard, and the related incentive and compensatory fee structure.
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