Ginnie Mae mortgage-backed securities issuance fell in the first quarter of 2015 with FHA volume slipping during the period, according to an Inside FHA/VA Lending’s analysis of agency data.Ginnie MBS production in the first quarter totaled $79.8 billion, down from $80.6 billion in the 4Q14, despite a 29.3 percent increase from February to March. On the other hand, production was up 41.6 percent from a year ago.FHA-backed Ginnie MBS issuance dropped 3.1 percent in the first quarter from 4Q14, ending the period with $39.9 billion. Year-over-year volume rose 22.0 percent from the previous year. On the other hand, refinancing increased to $12.3 billion from $7.8 billion during the same stretch. VA securitization totaled $35.5 billion, up from $33.6 billion quarter-over-quarter, powered by refinance loans. Rural housing securitization totaled $4.2 billion in the first quarter, down from $5. 7 billion in 4Q14. Securitized FHA purchase loans rose 7.7 percent in March from February, while ... [3 charts].
The Department of Veterans Affairs will continue removing barriers to delivering home-loan benefits to veterans and service members in 2015, focusing more on further improvements in appraisal and servicing. “It’s going to be geared around improving on the things we have already done,” said Mike Frueh, director of the VA Home Loan Guaranty program. VA loan originations are on the upswing and the agency wants to maintain the trend by getting more vets and active-duty personnel into the program. Last year, 18 percent of VA loans were to active-duty service members and 82 percent to veterans. Frueh said the VA program is by far the better deal. Interest rates are lower on a VA loan than on conventional loans and, generally requires no downpayment, he noted. In addition, VA loans do not have mortgage insurance. Based on the volume of VA loans originated in 2014, veteran borrowers ...
According to an informational circular on Angel Oak Mortgage Solutions, some of the top executives at the firm used to work for Southstar Funding in Sandy Spring, GA.
Business is booming at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac thanks to a healthy surge in refinance activity, according to a new Inside Mortgage Finance analysis of mortgage-backed securities issued by the two government-sponsored enterprises during the first quarter of 2015. Fannie and Freddie issued a total of $189.92 billion of single-family MBS during the first three months of the year. That was up 5.9 percent from the fourth quarter of 2014, and it marked the biggest output for the GSEs since the third quarter of 2013. Early 2015 was leaps and bounds ahead of the pace set during the same period last year, which marked a 14-year low in mortgage production. All of the oomph came...[Includes three data charts]
Most analysts are confident that private mortgage insurance companies will not see their ratings downgraded due to increased competition from the FHA as well as new capital requirements for private MIs proposed by the Federal Housing Finance Agency. But Zacks Investment Research, a research firm that ranks and rates investment products for investors, went against the grain and downgraded MGIC Investment Corp. by two notches due exactly to those reasons. While private MIs have been gaining market share in the last couple of years, Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corp. and its business competitors will find...
In efforts to expand mortgage access and get more homeowners in the door, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro said the FHA is looking into alternative credit scoring models. Speaking at a credit access symposium at the National Association of Realtors this week in Washington, DC, Castro said, “We want to make it more affordable, realistic and more feasible for folks to become homeowners.” He acknowledged...
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