Also, there’s a growing fear that in the absence of Congressional action, a free-market leaning Treasury Department, in tandem with a Trump-appointed FHFA director, might alter the way GSEs operate...

Freddie Mac plans to issue its first credit-risk transfer deal as a trust execution this month in preparation for the new Real Estate Mortgage Investment Conduit structure, according to Michael Reynolds, vice president of credit- risk transfers.

The average loan size is $285,547 with the average LTV coming in at 70.0 percent.

Here’s a prediction: GSE reform legislation will only pass if, and when, the Democrats take control of the House, Senate and the White House.

Many low-income and minority borrowers are forced into FHA loans by risk-based pricing and overlays in the conventional market, only to be stymied by higher FHA premiums and non-cancellable mortgage insurance premiums, according to a new study from the Center for Responsible Lending. The study, “Repairing a Two-Tiered System: The Crucial but Complex Role of FHA,” examines FHA’s pre- and post-crisis lending to white and minority borrowers. It also evaluates the impact of risk-based and FHA pricing as well as the impact of False Claims Act enforcement, which have limited the FHA program’s effectiveness in meeting homeownership goals, said authors Peter Smith, CRL senior researcher, and Melissa Stegman, senior policy counsel. The authors used Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data from 2004 through 2016, focusing solely on single-family purchase mortgages made to ...

Actions by a number of private mortgage insurers to cut borrower-paid premium rates would enhance affordability and enable private MIs to increase their market share at FHA’s expense, according to an analysis from the Urban Institute. So far, Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corp., Genworth Mortgage Insurance and Radian Guaranty have announced reductions in their respective monthly and single-premium borrower-paid premium rates. The premium cuts will affect more than just affordability, said UI. On March 6, the company announced that it is reducing borrower-paid single-premium rates in most FICO buckets, effective for all MI applications received on or after March 19, 2018. The Philadelphia-based MI also reminded clients that previously announced single-premium restrictions on debt-to-income ratios exceeding 45 percent and a FICO score below 700, or DTI exceeding ...

The NAR is hoping that a cut in g-fees (and LLPAs) ultimately will be passed down to consumers – who buy homes from NAR’s members.

Excessive risk-based pricing, high private mortgage insurance premiums and lender credit overlays are locking out low-income borrowers and families of color from the conventional mortgage market, pushing them towards FHA as their only option, concludes a new study from the Center for Responsible Lending.

Freddie Mac had the biggest monthly increase at 22.9 percent…

Freddie CEO Donald Layton told Inside MBS & ABS that implementation of the FHFA directive “has largely been complete.”