Goldman Sachs has forgiven a total of $78.7 million in principal on 746 first-lien mortgages since Aug. 1, 2018, as it neared fulfillment of a $1.8 billion consumer-relief obligation under two mortgage-related settlement agreements, according to independent monitor Eric Green.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac transferred risk on about $367 billion of unpaid principal balance in the first half of the year as the GSEs target a larger share of single-family loans. The Federal Housing Finance Agency published a credit-risk transfer progress report last week highlighting activity through the second quarter of 2018. This report marks the first time the FHFA is reporting the percentage of the GSEs’ targeted single-family and multifamily acquisitions that are covered by credit-risk transfer ...

New issuance of single-family MBS by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae took a predictable downward turn in October as seasonal factors weighed on the U.S. housing market and refinance activity continued to sputter. (Includes two data charts.)

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac officials are confident that the single-security will launch successfully in the to-be-announced market next June, although some market participants at last week’s Residential Mortgage Finance Symposium in New York still have some jitters.

A proposal issued by federal regulators last week to ease certain standards for capital and liquidity will likely prompt banks to reduce their holdings of MBS, according to industry analysts. The complex proposal could prompt a $65.0 billion reduction in bank holdings of MBS, according to estimates by the Federal Reserve and Wells Fargo Securities.

Fannie, Freddie and Ginnie issued a combined $98.03 billion of single-family MBS last month, a 5.1 percent drop from September…

So far this year, publicly traded real estate investment trusts that specialize in mortgages have raised $4.8 billion by selling additional shares of stock, on par with what they did all of last year. Now, comes the big question: What are they doing with all that money?

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac reported $6.72 billion in net income during the third quarter, down 3.5 percent from the previous quarter. The government-sponsored enterprises have also been actively whittling down their retained portfolios.

The grand concept behind the single security is that MBS issued by Fannie and Freddie will be fully fungible and interchangeable.

The implication is that declining originations, plummeting refinancing volume and razor-tight profit margins are causing consternation at Ginnie…