Borrowers rushing to get their purchase-mortgage applications submitted before FHA’s higher annual mortgage insurance premiums took hold April 1 helped boost total purchase applications last week, according to the latest data from the Mortgage Bankers Association. The MBA’s weekly mortgage applications survey for the week ending March 29 showed a surge in purchase applications for government loans. The surge, fueled mostly by FHA applicants, helped boost the total number of purchase applications received by lenders during the period. “Total purchase applications increased last week, due to an almost ...

Despite its efforts to enhance its hiring outreach to minority and women potential contractors and employees during 2012, the Federal Housing Finance Agency still faces challenges finding qualified and diverse candidates.

Home prices nationwide jumped in February by the largest margin in seven years, said CoreLogic while the SEC has decided to allow public companies to Twitter and Facebook.

An Arizona court is expected to rule soon on whether to approve a proposed asset and stock purchase agreement worth up to $267 million between the appointed receiver of PMI Mortgage Insurance Corp. and private-equity investor Arch Capital.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac securitization volume reached its highest level in nearly four years during the first three months of 2013, according to a new Inside Mortgage Finance market analysis and lender ranking. Ongoing strength in refinance activity was the key. The two government-sponsored enterprises securitized a total of $296.4 billion of refinance loans during the first quarter, accounting for a hefty 83.3 percent of their total business. It was the biggest wave of refi loans to hit the GSE market since the second quarter of 2009, when a whopping $373.7 billion of refinances were securitized by Fannie and Freddie – before the Home Affordable Refinance Program reached its stride. While GSE refi business was...[Includes three data charts]

Fannie Mae ended 2012 with its single best quarterly and yearly profit in company history, prompting the government-sponsored enterprise to predict sustained profits “for the foreseeable future,” without taking into income any of the massive allowance it has built up related to deferred taxes. Fannie reported net income this week of $17.2 billion for 2012, compared to a net loss of $16.9 billion in 2011, with fourth quarter earnings of $7.6 billion. A year earlier, the GSE posted a $2.4 billion loss for the fourth quarter of 2011. “We had...

The Securities and Exchange Commission last week cleared the way for Genworth Financial to separate its struggling mortgage insurance operations and create a new holding company structure that would shield the parent from any fallout from problems of its MI operations. The SEC granted Genworth’s request for a no-action letter, which ensures that no enforcement action would be taken based on Genworth’s interpretation of rules and regulations regarding mergers and succession, new registrant, obligations and indentures. Genworth announced...

Industry insiders, at least in some corners, may not be wild about the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s recent proposal to curb what it considers excessive force-placed insurance payments but the FHFA’s decision to seek public input on the measure is seen as a promising sign of future openness on agency policymaking. Under the FHFA proposal issued last week, seller/servicers would be prohibited from accepting sales commissions or fees related to the placement of force-placed insurance where a conflict of interest exists between them and the insurance providers and their affiliates. Formally published in the March 29 Federal Register for a 60-day comment period, the FHFA’s proposal responds...

Applications for purchase mortgages surged last week as FHA borrowers rushed to get their applications in before April 1, when higher FHA annual insurance premiums took effect, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s latest weekly survey of mortgage loan applications. The boost in total purchase applications for the week ending March 29 was fueled by a nearly 7.0 percent increase in government-backed purchase applications, the MBA noted. “This [increase] was likely driven by borrowers applying for loans prior to the scheduled increase in FHA premiums that took effect on April 1,” said Mike Fratantoni, the MBA’s vice president of research and economics. “On a year-over-year basis, purchase applications are up about 4 percent, in line with the trend we are seeing in home sales volume.” The 10 percent annual premium increase, the third in two consecutive years, applies...

Production of new non-agency MBS and non-mortgage ABS increased sharply in the first quarter of 2013, offsetting a slight decline in the agency MBS market. Total MBS and ABS issuance rose 2.9 percent from the fourth quarter of 2012 to $515.3 billion during the first three months of 2013, according to a new Inside MBS & ABS analysis and ranking. The first quarter of this year was up 19.7 percent from the same period in 2012, and it marked the strongest quarterly issuance since the third quarter of 2009. For a change, the increase did not come...[Includes two data charts]