Construction-to-permanent loans are picking up a head of steam in certain markets. “Down here [in Florida] it’s extremely hot,” said Joe Adamaitis, vice president and residential lending manager for Insignia Bank.
All the major mortgage product categories saw declines in new originations during the first quarter, but the jumbo and home-equity sectors held up slightly better, according to a new ranking and analysis by Inside Mortgage Finance. The conventional-conforming sector took the biggest hit, as new production dropped 25.9 percent from the fourth quarter of 2013 to an estimated $123 billion in the first three months of this year. The vast majority of these loans still end up being financed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and the two government-sponsored enterprises continue to draw a lot of their business from the ebbing refinance market. Fannie and Freddie securitized...[Includes two data charts]
New margin rules for broker-dealers may trip up mortgage bankers using mortgage-backed securities to hedge their businesses, according to experts discussing various liquidity issues during last week’s Secondary Market Conference sponsored by the Mortgage Bankers Association. Fannie Mae has traditionally reserved the right to invoke margin calls if the government-sponsored enterprise needed to, even before the Treasury Practices Market Group issued new best practices on the subject, said Renee Schultz, a Fannie vice president, but this right was rarely used. When the TPMG recommendation came out, it appeared to be aimed at systemic risk. But since it was addressed to all broker-dealers, Fannie adopted it. Fannie has implemented...
In his report, Guggenheim analyst Jaret Seiberg writes, “There is still anger in Congress over having to put cash into the enterprises in the first time."
Despite the not-so-good news on applications, one warehouse lender suggested to IMFnews that larger lenders are suffering much more than smaller firms.
“In recent client meetings, Stratmor heard that lender fees are now being included in the rate sheet price,” Yung said. Indications are that the 3 percent cap is causing lenders to fold the lender fees into the rate – specifically on the retail side.
“These are factually and legally complex cases and don’t trust anyone that thinks this is a slam dunk for any one of the parties,” predicted legal expert David Reiss.
Here’s what the current state of mortgage banking boils down to: Can the industry survive on $1 trillion to $1.2 trillion in production a year through 2015?
After years of losses from holdings of nonprime mortgages, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac reported significant income relating to subprime mortgages and Alt A loans in the first quarter of 2014. The income was largely tied to settlements of lawsuits filed by the Federal Housing Finance Agency against non-agency mortgage-backed security issuers, and losses from nonprime mortgages were also minimal during the quarter ... [Includes one data chart]
RSS