The 25 basis-point mortgage insurance premium cut announced this week by the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s departing leadership could switch $50 billion of issuance from Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac business to FHA as well as cause premium Ginnie Mae MBS to prepay faster, according to market analysts. Absent any adversarial pricing by private mortgage insurers, a guaranty fee adjustment by the Federal Housing Finance Agency or a reversal by the Trump administration, analysts with Bank of America Merrill Lynch see up to 12 percent of purchase and 2 percent of refis shifting to FHA. On June 9, HUD Secretary Julian Castro announced...
Change in the political balance in Washington that put the GOP in control of both houses of Congress and the executive branch has fueled speculation that something will finally be done to resolve the conservatorships of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. As in the past, there is no shortage of competing proposals. At an Urban Institute seminar this week, Rick Lazio, former Republican congressman from New York, said...
Capital requirements regarding bank holdings of non-agency MBS increased significantly after federal regulators implemented Basel III reforms in 2014. And while banks have largely been reluctant to re-enter the market for non-agency MBS issuance, a recent report by the Government Accountability Office suggests that the impact of bank involvement in the non-agency MBS market is unclear. The GAO was asked to explain how capital requirements for a mortgage depend on how the loan is financed and how the requirements have changed since the financial crisis. The report was requested by Sen. Richard Shelby, R-AL, who until recently was the chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs. The GAO noted...
Heavy refinance activity at the end of the year lifted single-family business at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to a three-year high in 2016, according to a new Inside The GSEs analysis and ranking. The two firms guaranteed $973.72 billion of single-family mortgage-backed securities during 2016, up 18.1 percent from the previous year. That included a 5.7 percent increase from the third to the fourth quarter that was fueled by a 24.5 percent jump in refi loans delivered into new GSE MBS. While both companies saw solid gains from 2015 activity, Fannie’s 23.3 percent increase was more than double the 11.0 percent rise in Freddie volume. [includes two charts]
As Fannie Mae prepares to vacate its iconic headquarters with a move to downtown Washington in 2018, the buyers of the colonial-style building are mulling over plans on what to do with the four-story, close to 250,000 square-foot property. Roadside Development, in a partnership with Sekisui House, bought the building situated on about 10 acres last month.Before making plans on what to do with the property, Roadside is seeking public input in the form of community meetings and online outreach. Roadside founding Principal Richard Lake said the firm wants to sit with the community and spend time with them to get ideas, just as they did in other nearby development projects.
The GSE figures suggest that private MIs saw a measurable drop in new insurance written in the final three months of 2016, but ended the year with a significant increase in volume compared to 2015.
Lenders delivered $68.26 billion of single-family loans with private mortgage insurance coverage, including modified loans, into Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgage-backed securities during the fourth quarter of 2016, according to a new Inside Mortgage Finance analysis and ranking. Fourth-quarter private MI activity for the two government-sponsored enterprises was down 10.1 percent from the previous quarter. Overall, Fannie/Freddie single-family MBS production was up 5.7 percent in the fourth quarter. The drop in MI-insured business at the two GSEs tracked...[Includes two data tables]
Banks and nonbanks alike are expected to unveil sizable mark-ups on the asset value of their mortgage servicing rights for the fourth quarter, with the general consensus being that increases will range from 20 to 25 basis points. One servicing advisor, requesting his name not be used, said he has some clients that will book gains of 30 to 35 bps, though he indicated this won’t be the norm. “In general, it’s going to be a huge move,” he said. This source made...
Some borrowers are obtaining mortgages for investment properties and occupying the home as a primary residence instead of renting out the home, according to industry analysts. Such “reverse-occupancy fraud” is especially prevalent among first-time homebuyers who might not otherwise qualify for a mortgage. Borrowers completing reverse-occupancy fraud aim to qualify for a mortgage with help from the theoretical rental income from the so-called investment property. Mortgages for a business purpose – typically including mortgages for investment properties – aren’t subject to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s ability-to-repay rule, allowing lenders to use looser underwriting standards. Fannie Mae issued...
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