Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac issued $44.8 billion in single-family mortgage-backed securities during the month of May, a slight 1.3 percent dip from April, but it reversed the brief rebound following a year-long streak of declines, according to an Inside The GSEs analysis. However, May’s MBS issuance was down a much steeper 62.4 percent from the same period a year ago. Top-ranked Wells Fargo’s Fannie and Freddie securitization, at $5.97 billion, dropped by 4.9 percent on a monthly basis and by 73.6 percent year-to-date.

Specifically, the mortgages will be above the Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac loan limit of $625,500. But before Redwood can buy its first jumbo loan, the Federal Housing Finance Agency must sign off on the effort.

“DOJ may not have the evidence to try this as a fraud case,” Judge Max Cogburn said.

It was also the lowest three-month volume since the fourth quarter of 2008, not long after dramatically higher “emergency” loan limits were put in place by the agencies.

Correspondent sellers fret that some of the largest players might shut the door on them for a different reason: they can’t deliver enough volume in an origination-challenged market.

The “legacy” bulk market for MSRs has been spooked, to some degree, by regulatory scrutiny, though offerings of newly originated product have been plentiful.

Production of “agency jumbo” mortgages fell sharply in the first quarter of 2014 and is likely to drop even more as new FHA loan limits show up in endorsement data. According to a new Inside Mortgage Finance analysis, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the FHA saw $10.5 billion in single-family business with loan amounts exceeding the traditional agency limit of $417,000 during the first quarter of 2014. That was down 30.6 percent from the fourth quarter. It was also the lowest three-month volume since the fourth quarter of 2008, not long after dramatically higher “emergency” loan limits were put in place by the agencies. In comparison, originations of non-agency jumbo loans fell...[Includes three data charts]

Waiting for a large merger or acquisition to happen in the mortgage market is a bit like waiting for Godot: there’s plenty of talk about his arrival, but he may never show. “Right now there’s a large discrepancy between what the buyer wants to pay and what the seller wants to sell at,” said Chuck Klein, managing partner in Mortgage Banking Solutions, Austin, TX. “Any company that’s making money will not sell at just book value.” One large company that likely will not be sold this year is...

The average combined loan-to-value ratio on the deal is 71.5 percent, one of the highest levels for the new era of jumbo MBS.

Redwood will have the opportunity to buy jumbo mortgages from FHLB members via the Chicago bank.