A year ago, in SEC filings, Pershing Square disclosed that it owned just under 10 percent of Fannie and Freddie common.

The nation’s subservicers, as a whole, reported a modest decline in their business volume during the third quarter, though some firms experienced large declines compared to a year ago, according to exclusive survey figures from Inside Mortgage Finance. The biggest year-over-year decline came at Bank of America, which had just $5 billion in subservicing contracts at Sept. 30, a 78.3 percent drop compared to the same period last year. BofA’s decline in the subservicing sector is...[Includes one data chart]

Lenders are likely to shift some of their business away from the government-sponsored enterprises and into the non-agency market in the coming years, regardless of GSE reform efforts, according to a report released this week by the Congressional Budget Office. “With house prices expected to trend upward, the balance sheets of lenders and investors should improve, as should borrowers’ financial positions,” the nonpartisan provider of analysis for Congress said. “Consequently, CBO projects that private companies will become more willing to make new loans and demand lower fees to compensate for the credit risks they take, which will reduce Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s pricing advantage over their private competitors.” If the private sector bears more mortgage credit risk, the CBO said...

Ginnie Mae approved the transfer of $66.06 billion in mortgage servicing rights during fiscal year 2014, a 56.5 percent tumble from the prior year as “mega” MSR transactions hit the skids. In fiscal 2012, just $25.39 billion in Ginnie product changed hands, but the market heated up significantly with $152.22 billion transferred in 2013. As always, transfers can be...[Includes one data chart]

As the share of investors purchasing homes declines, mortgage financing continues to take market share from cash financing for home purchases, according to the latest Campbell/Inside Mortgage Finance HousingPulse Tracking Survey. Non-cash financing was used on 72.4 percent of home purchases in November, based on a three-month moving average. That’s up from a 70.7 percent share in November 2013 and a share as low as 66.9 percent in March 2012. Prior to the housing crisis, the non-cash share of total home sales averaged...

President Obama this week signed a comprehensive package of spending bills, providing funding to federal agencies through fiscal 2015 but missing two initiatives that would have toughened FHA enforcement and benefited new homeowners through enhanced housing counseling. The FY 2015 Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act is comprised of 11 funding bills for all federal agencies, including the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The bill provides...

Advocates for GSE reform looking for savings in the federal budget will be disappointed...

More than half of Fannie’s MBS flow in November came from refinance loans, the first time since March that purchase mortgages accounted for less than half of its business.

As of September 30, banks and thrifts held $15.50 billion in repurchase reserves, most of it tied to Fannie/Freddie loans.

Ocwen also did not disclose what it paid to acquire the nonperforming loans or who the buyer was.