The FHA in 2015 posted significant shares overall among insured loans, except in purchase mortgages where private mortgage insurance enjoyed a slight edge over government-insured products, according to an Inside FHA/VA Lending analysis of agency loan-level mortgage-backed securities. The FHA accounted for the bulk of insured loans in mortgage-backed securities issued last year, writing coverage on an estimated $236.3 billion in mortgage originations, or 38.8 percent of all insured mortgage loans in 2015. Approximately $608.8 billion in securitized mortgages received...[Includes one data table]

Delivery of FHA loans into Ginnie Mae pools declined 21.6 percent in the fourth quarter from the previous quarter, with correspondents accounting for the bulk of FHA loans securitized during the period, according to an Inside FHA/VA Lending analysis of Ginnie Mae data. FHA loans securitized in Ginnie mortgage-backed securities totaled $57.8 billion in the fourth quarter. Approximately $40.6 billion were purchase loans, down 20.6 percent from the previous quarter. MBS backed by FHA refinance loans totaled $17.2 billion, down 23.9 percent from the prior quarter. Correspondents and retail lenders accounted...[Includes two data tables]

There will be no further reductions of the FHA annual mortgage insurance premium or any change in the agency’s life-of-loan pricing, according to the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s top officials.Testifying recently before a House Financial Services subcommittee, FHA Commissioner Edward Golding attributed a 27 percent increase in FHA purchase endorsements last year to a 50 basis point MIP reduction and continued low interest rates. Although he did not provide any updated guidance on MIP adjustments, Golding assured...

The House of Representatives has passed legislation with provisions that would eliminate the cap on VA loan-guaranty limits and create a new office that would manage certain veteran benefits programs, including home-loan guarantees. The bill, H.R. 3016, The Veterans Employment, Education, and Health Care Improvement Act, passed by voice vote and was referred to the Senate for action. It contains...

Some real estate agents and lenders are discouraging veterans and active military personnel from using a VA loan to purchase a home because of misconceptions about the VA Home Loan Guaranty program, a top official of the National Association of Realtors said. Testifying recently before the House Committee on Veteran Affairs, Sherrie Meadows, NAR vice president, acknowledged that some lenders and real estate agents steer their clients away from VA loans because the process could be prohibitive. “They think...

FHA lenders are anticipating long-awaited guidance from the Department of Housing and Urban Development implementing sweeping changes related to reverse-mortgage borrowers in default for not paying their taxes and insurance. But don’t be surprised if HUD issues additional guidance before the implementation date, said James Wright, an attorney with Bradley Arant Boult Cummings’ Birmingham office. First announced in April 2015, the guidance sets...

The Department of Housing and Urban Development has revised reasonable diligence timeframes in 32 jurisdictions and provided guidance on judicial foreclosure of FHA loans in the District of Columbia. The updated timeframes are effective for all cases in which the deadline for taking the first legal action in a foreclosure occurs on or after Jan. 1, 2016. The revised schedule of attorney fees is...

The Department of Veterans Affairs has entered into an agreement with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to manage and market the latter’s inventory of real estate-owned single-family and multifamily properties. Mike Frueh, director of the VA Home Loan Guaranty Program, revealed the agreement during a recent hearing by the House Committee on Veterans Affairs on the state of program. Frueh told...

Late last week, Moody’s Investors Service published an analysis detailing risks from mortgage warehouse securitizations. The warning was published days after a $225.0 million deal from Jefferies Funding was issued with a Aaa rating from Moody’s. Analysts at Moody’s stressed that securitized mortgage warehouse facilities face risks that differ from traditional residential MBS. The analysts said Station Place Securitization Trust 2016-1 from Jefferies addressed the risks, prompting the Aaa rating. Station Place was backed...

The FHA insured more loans that were packaged in agency mortgage-backed securities last year than any of its rivals in the primary mortgage-insurance business, but private mortgage companies came out on top in the purchase-mortgage sector. FHA loans accounted for 38.8 percent of insured mortgages securitized by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae last year, according to a new Inside Mortgage Trends analysis of MBS loan-level data ... [Includes one data chart]