A Ginnie Mae crackdown on abusive VA refinancing could be positive for housing finance reform, according to a Washington research organization. In a recent analysis, the Cowen Washington Research Group said Ginnie’s effort to rein in lenders that are engaging in churning might benefit those who are trying to revamp Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. “We expect Ginnie Mae will succeed in curbing prepayment speed on VA mortgages,” wrote Jaret Seiberg, a financial services and housing policy analyst with the Cowen Group. “The crackdown is positive for government-sponsored enterprise reform as it should restore the spread between Ginnie and Fannie/Freddie MBS.” According to Seiberg, GSE reform advocates could potentially use the spread to pay for a housing finance bill that includes a government guarantee on the resulting MBS. Acting Ginnie Mae President Michael Bright has pledged to ...

After a couple of slow weeks, there appears to be renewed interest among investors looking to buy mortgage servicing rights, but in certain markets caution is being expressed regarding properties where hurricane damage might be an issue. In mid-September, Fannie Mae issued a bulletin temporarily suspending servicing transfers involving properties located within designated disaster areas. A week after the Sept. 13 bulletin was issued, Fannie clarified to market participants that the bulletin was meant as guidance and not a firm directive or prohibition on MSR transfers. According to Incenter Mortgage Advisors, Denver, some sellers of Fannie receivables “elected...

The mortgage servicing market maintained its steady growth pattern during the second quarter of 2017, inching up 0.7 percent to $10.430 trillion, according to new Federal Reserve data. That was the biggest number for mortgage debt outstanding since the first quarter of 2011, when the market stood at $10.439 trillion. Most of the growth has been in Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae servicing but portfolio holdings of whole loans are also on the upswing. There was...[Includes two data tables]

Keep in mind that Mel Watt’s term as Federal Housing Finance Agency director expires in January 2019...

So far, speculation regarding a change in the GSE dividend payment has been dead wrong, but there’s still time...

The new Ginnie Mae buyout authority expires March 31 of next year…

Ginnie Mae took umbrage at the IG’s findings, saying it was aware of the market share shift to nonbanks in 2012 and was already taking action…

Kroll Bond Rating Agency assigned AAA ratings to the deal.

Some investors, such as Charles Schwab Bank, are having trouble finding bonds to buy…

All of the uptick in seller buybacks came from Fannie, where repurchases surged 21.5 percent from the first to the second quarter.