A significant drop in the VA refinance market in the first quarter is proof that Ginnie Mae’s anti-churning policy has been effective in curbing serial refinancing of VA loans, according to agency officials at the recent VA Lenders Conference in Kansas City, MO. A hefty 42.7 percent decline in VA refi volume during the first three months of 2017 reflects an apparently successful effort by Ginnie to stop the practice of refinancing VA loans within six months of closing. By comparison, securitization of VA purchase loans fell 17.3 percent from the fourth quarter. John Getchis, senior vice president at Ginnie, said...

The pending issuance will largely be backed by purchase mortgages...

Losses on rated non-agency MBS backed by re-performing loans have been minimal, according to DBRS. RPLs have been one of the dominant types of mortgages in post-crisis non-agency MBS. Issuance of MBS backed by RPLs increased significantly in 2015, according to DBRS. Some $13.4 billion of volume was issued that year, compared with a total of $5.9 billion of issuance between 2010 and 2014. The deals often don’t receive credit ratings, which can make them difficult to track. Some $15.3 billion of RPL MBS were issued...

The average daily trading volume in agency MBS reached $207.8 billion in March, a mere 2.66 percent gain compared to the month prior and a sign that investors are in a holding pattern these days, trying to decipher both the stock market and geopolitical events. According to figures compiled by the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, average daily trading volume jumped 9.7 percent compared to the same month a year ago. In January 2017, $229.8 billion in product changed hands daily. Meanwhile, a recent decline in rates means...

Seven marketplace lending securitizations with a total issuance of $3.0 billion came to market during the first quarter of 2017 – a quarterly record, according to a new report by PeerIQ, a New York-based data provider and risk-analysis firm for the peer-to-peer lending industry. Total securitization issuance to date now stands at $18.0 billion, with 80 deals issued so far (48 consumer, 22 student, one mortgage and nine small and medium-sized enterprises) since September 2013, the PeerIQ analysts said. Also, the trend towards rated deals and larger transactions continued...

The Mortgage Bankers Association is sticking with its proposal to keep Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac alive, but with new charters, while inviting other players to compete with the two giants in the securitization of conventional mortgages. The trade group this week proposed a utility-like model for the re-christened government-sponsored enterprises. They would inherit the personnel and systems the GSEs now have, but become limited-purpose, publicly owned securitization businesses under tight government regulation. Other entities could apply...

Blockchain technology could help reduce the compliance costs associated with Regulation AB2, according to the Structured Finance Industry Group and the Chamber of Digital Commerce. The two trade groups recently submitted a comment letter to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority in response to FINRA’s report on distributed ledger technology. FINRA, an independent regulator of broker-dealers, is considering the implications of blockchain for the securities industry. Blockchain is...

“Maybe we end up in the exact same spot as the last generation, maybe we end up with Corker-Warner,” said Calabria.

The Mortgage Bankers Association, this week, released more details in conjunction with its GSE reform proposal published earlier this year. Expanding on some of the concepts presented in January, the MBA paper includes more detailed end-state reform recommendations including elaborating on the transition plan. The trade group’s approach for reforming Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac calls...

Despite various rumblings suggesting that a plan may be in the works, the Trump administration appears to have no current plan for reforming Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Speaking on a housing affordability panel sponsored by the American Enterprise Institute earlier this month, Mark Calabria, Vice President Mike Pence’s chief economist, said the administration may even go with the Corker-Warner GSE reform plan put forth by Senators Bob Corker, R-TN, and Mark Warner, D-VA. Calabria, former director of financial regulation studies at the Cato Institute, got...