Fannie Mae revealed plans this week to securitize re-performing loans held on its balance sheet to manage its risk and reduce its portfolio. Loans that have been modified and are now performing, coupled with loans that have become current without the assistance of a modification program, will be included in the group. “Over the long run, these securitizations can benefit...

Fannie, Freddie and Ginnie continue to dominate in multifamily mortgage securitization, capturing a combined 93.6 percent of the market in the first quarter.

Christopher Whalen, senior managing director at KBRA, noted that most of the megabanks “are showing lower mortgage banking lines, which includes MBS desk P&L [profit and loss]. Gain-on-sale is also down about 50 percent year-over-year, so that’s another factor in the balance.”

Was the TRID mess overblown? Tell that to all the mortgage firms that lost money on deals...

Declining interest rates introduced considerable uncertainty into the valuation of mortgage servicing rights during the first quarter of 2016, leading to a decline in bulk transfers of agency MSR, according to a new Inside Mortgage Trends analysis. Bulk sales of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae servicing rights totaled just $36.16 billion during the first three months of this year, a 37.2 percent drop from the fourth quarter of 2015. That was down ... [Includes one data chart]

Mortgage financing as it exists today might have to go through significant changes if the impact of climate change worsens, particularly in areas most exposed to the risk, according to new research from Freddie Mac. While flood insurance makes it possible for borrowers to obtain home loans in areas of high flood risk, other fallout from climate change – rising sea levels, changing weather patterns, increasing temperatures – may not be insurable. “As a result, some important features ...

This week, Fannie Mae announced it will start to securitize re-performing loans held on its balance sheet during the second half of the year. Loans that have been modified and are now performing and loans that have become current without a modification program will be included. Securitizing the once delinquent loans will help manage Fannie’s risk while dwindling down its portfolio, according to Fannie’s Bob Ives, vice president of retained portfolio asset management. “Over the long run, these securitizations can benefit investors, Fannie Mae and taxpayers.” Just weeks earlier the Federal Housing Finance Agency revealed a principal reduction program for Fannie and Freddie Mac loans.

Capital matters, according to Fannie Mae CEO Timothy Mayoupolos, who reflected on lessons learned during the crisis. In a recent speech in Washington, he noted that while Fannie was meeting its statutory capital requirements heading into the crisis, it was clearly not enough to weather the storm. “We are a mono-line company. We are restricted in diversifying our business,” he said. “So any broad disruption in housing was going to affect us. And it did,” he said, recounting the growing number of default borrowers during that time. Although he stopped short of commenting on what amount the GSEs should be recapitalized at, he did say that there is not enough capital today.

There were just two comments regarding the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s American Survey of Mortgage Borrowers and both were generally supportive but suggested ways to enhance the survey’s usefulness. The FHFA issued a request for comment last month about the proposed survey to collect information from borrowers. The information will be used in a report highlighting the GSEs’ mortgage activities. The comment period closed this week. The National Association of Home Builders said the practical utility of information collected by the ASMB is clear and will allow for a more in-depth analysis of the mortgage market. While some argue that the information collected is duplicative of other available data, the...

Freddie Sets Date for First Quarter Results. Freddie Mac announced that it plans to report its first quarter 2016 financial results before the U.S. financial markets open on Tuesday, May 3, 2016. Fannie Completes 10th CIRT Transaction to Date. Fannie Mae completed its latest Credit Insurance Risk Transfer transaction last week and it’s 10th deal since the program’s inception in 2013. This deal, CIRT 2016-3, shifts a portion of the credit risk on a pool of single-family loans with an unpaid principal balance of approximately $5.7 billion to a single insurer. The covered loan pool consists of 30-year fixed- rate loans with...