Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac reported a combined $5.0 billion in net income during the second quarter of 2014, down 46.2 percent from the first three months of the year. Compared to the first half of 2013, GSE profits were down nearly 82 percent, though both companies posted strong earnings during the three-month period ending June 30, 2014. Both GSEs are coming off a banner 2013 when each company’s earnings were super-charged by several one-time items – including the capture of each company’s deferred tax allowance, and numerous non-agency lawsuit settlements.

Morgan Stanley is set to issue its first jumbo mortgage-backed security since the financial crisis.

Mortgage origination volume was up in all three major production channels during the second quarter of 2014, according to a new Inside Mortgage Finance analysis and ranking. Retail originations remained the biggest source of new business, accounting for 61.0 percent of second quarter production. Total volume in the channel – which includes consumer-direct lending and traditional branch-office production – increased by 27.7 percent to an estimated $180 billion during the second quarter. Retail’s increase was higher than the overall 25.5 percent growth in total originations, nudging its share of the market slightly higher. Third-party originations were...[Includes four data charts]

As Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac buyback demands have tapered off, lenders continue to face aggressive government efforts to indemnify the FHA for losses, but they do have options available to them that can work in their favor. During a webinar sponsored last week by Inside Mortgage Finance, Amanda Raines, a partner with the BuckleySandler law firm in Washington, DC, emphasized that FHA indemnification demands have continued this year, with an aggressive use of the False Claims Act and the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act. That has led...

Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae each recorded double-digit increases in single-family business in July, marking the fourth straight monthly gain, according to a new ranking and analysis by Inside MBS & ABS, an affiliated newsletter. The three produced $85.3 billion of single-family mortgage-backed securities last month, an 11.6 percent increase from June’s volume. The biggest increase was at Fannie, where production was up 12.6 percent for the month. The steady gains in production starting in April have not been...

Production of new agency mortgage-backed securities increased by 11 percent over June, according to a new Inside MBS & ABS ranking and analysis.

Shortly before Congress left town for its annual summertime break, Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-LA, introduced S. 2641, legislation to amend the Truth in Lending Act to provide that residential mortgage loans held in portfolio would be deemed qualified mortgages for purposes of satisfying the requirements of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s ability-to-repay rule.

Freddie Mac sold a $659 million package of “deeply” delinquent loans from its investment portfolio – a first for the government-sponsored enterprise.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac actually withdrew $881.5 million of buyback demands, more than lenders repurchased during the first quarter.

A solid increase in non-agency commercial MBS issuance during the second quarter of 2014 provided most of the lift in new income-property securitizations, according to a new Inside MBS & ABS market analysis. A total of $36.69 billion of commercial mortgages were securitized during the second quarter, up 16.1 percent from the first three months of the year. At the midway point in 2014, new CMBS issuance remained 24.7 percent behind the heady levels recorded over the same period last year, which ended up being the market’s highest point since the financial crisis. Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae saw...[Includes two data charts]