The steadily declining average loan-to-value ratio on PMI-covered refinances reflects dwindling production in the HARP program.

Is the bloom off the rose in the single-family home rental market? Some institutional investors are shedding assets.

Credit enhancement levels set by the rating services play a major role in an issuer’s decision to come to market.

The remaining undrawn taxpayer commitment to the GSEs is $258.1 billion dollars, Stegman noted.

The Wall Street firm hunting for mortgage acquisitions is not a depository like JPMorgan Chase...

Mortgage brokers played an increasingly important role in the conventional conforming market during the first quarter of 2015, according to a new Inside Mortgage Trends analysis of mortgage-backed securities issued by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Mortgage brokers were responsible for $23.8 billion of single-family mortgages securitized by the two government-sponsored enterprises during the first three months of this year. That was up 16.0 percent ... [Includes two data charts]

New Residential Investment plans to complete an asset purchase with Home Loan Servicing Solutions instead of a merger, the firms announced this week. New Residential agreed to pay HLSS $1.4 billion, largely in cash. The sale substantially mitigates servicer advance funding risk, according to industry analysts. The firms said New Residential acquired substantially all of the assets of HLSS and assumed substantially all of HLSS’ liabilities ...

The GSEs aren’t completely committed to adopting new credit scoring models just yet, but it is on their radar. When asked about the possibility of alternative credit scoring, spokesmen for both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac pointed to the 2015 Conservatorship Scorecard which stated that they will be assessing the feasibility of alternate credit score models and credit history in loan-decision models. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro, who spoke at a credit access symposium in Washington last week, said that the FHA is exploring new ways to determine the creditworthiness of consumers to increase access to mortgage lending. Housing industry leaders in attendance said Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and other mortgage lenders could increase access....

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac issued a robust $189.92 billion of single-family mortgage-backed securities during the first three months of 2015, according to a new Inside The GSEs analysis.

CAPITAL HILL REPORT: Shortly before the U.S. Congress vacated the nation’s capital for its spring recess, Sen. Mike Crapo, R-ID, introduced legislation that would require all rules from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau be evaluated in the 10-year regulatory review process under the Economic Growth and Regulatory Paperwork Reduction Act, which seeks to identify rules that are unnecessary, outdated and overly burdensome. The Dodd-Frank Act already requires the CFPB to similarly review every major rulemaking…