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...

Some 16 single-borrower SFR rental deals have been issued since the market came to life in November 2013.

The Prestwick Group is selling a Fannie/Freddie $167 million bulk deal with a monthly flow component of $15 million to $20 million.

Mid-range credit scores – from 700 to 739 – accounted for 21.3 percent of Fannie and Freddie business last year.

Reliance recently was approved for credit by a Wall Street wholesale lender that does 10 percent down, no-mortgage insurance loans...

Mortgage companies repurchased or provided indemnification to Fannie and Freddie on some $4.046 billion of mortgages during 2014.

The selling depository – which MVSG did not name – prefers to retain servicing, but will consider an outright sale.

So, how come Freddie has conducted a handful of NPL sales thus far and Fannie Mae has not?

It’s not just structural issues that are keeping investors away from jumbo MBS; they are finding better value in other non-traditional mortgage securities products, including Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac risk-share transactions and deals backed by seasoned loans. During the fourth quarter of 2014, Javelin Mortgage Investment sold all of its holdings of prime, fixed, senior bonds from new-issue jumbo MBS. The real estate investment trust sold a total of ...