A big part of the MBS liquidity issue is caused by the Fed’s massive holdings, said Steve Abrahams, a managing director at Deutsche Bank.

Another concern that has come up regarding employment is the graying of the mortgage executive suites.

One new portfolio that came out for bid recently entails the transfer of $328 million of Fannie Mae receivables in Massachusetts.

Commercial banks and thrifts held $1.58 trillion of residential MBS at the end of March, a 2.6 percent increase from the previous quarter.

Is a single GSE security years in the distance? It's hard to say. The FHFA won't offer a timeline.

First Republic Bank is the top contributor to the Chase jumbo MBS with a 20.9 percent share.

One market participant, speaking under the condition his name not be used, likened it to MBS buyers “going on strike.”

The mortgage market faces a big challenge when the Federal Reserve figures out how to unload its massive $1.7 trillion portfolio of agency MBS, but anticipated widening of spreads could at least improve market liquidity. The fixed-income market has seen a sharp decline in trading volume resulting in part from regulatory issues, said Mike Fratantoni, chief economist at the Mortgage Bankers Association, during the group’s annual secondary market conference in New York this week. “Banks have been hoarding liquidity instead of providing it to the market,” he said. Average daily trading volume of MBS has dropped...

Officials involved in the development of the common securitization platform and the single, interchangeable MBS for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have vowed not to publicize any timetable for the project. And despite several attempts to get an answer during a panel session at this week’s secondary market conference sponsored by the Mortgage Bankers Association, they stuck to their plan. They went out of their way to stress that they haven’t forgotten about potential non-agency users sometime down the road. But that’s...

In April, the average daily trading volume in agency MBS fell to $187.8 billion, the worst reading of the year and a possible harbinger of problems to come. One market participant, speaking under the condition his name not be used, likened it to MBS buyers “going on strike.” He added: “Right now, you have an illiquid market, and that’s not a good thing.” In December of last year, the MBS trading volume was...