The government accused the San Diego-based Plaza Home of charging black and Hispanic borrowers higher fees than white borrowers on mortgages sourced through the wholesale channel.
FHA will continue to insure mortgages if the government closes but cautions that its commitment authority eventually will run dry. Potential homeowners "will be impacted," it warns.
The Federal Reserves relentless acquisition of agency MBS has been the biggest factor in the changing complexion of the MBS investor picture, far outstripping the tortoise-like pace at which the market has expanded this year. The Fed increased its agency MBS holdings by 12.8 percent during the second quarter of 2013, according to a new Inside MBS & ABS profile of investor classes in the mortgage securities market. The central bank added $137.2 billion to its agency MBS holdings during the quarter, and its gross acquisitions totaled $466.6 billion since the beginning of the year. That represented...[Includes two data charts]
Moodys Investors Service this week warned of increasing complexity in the structures of new jumbo MBS. However, losses on the deals will only occur in low probability scenarios and issuers have yet to bring back all of the non-agency MBS features seen before the financial crisis. Moodys said complex cash-flow structures in new jumbo MBS can increase risks on senior bonds in the event of high mortgage losses. The features include super-senior support bonds, exchangeable securities, principal-only bonds, and pool interest-only bonds. These securities pose...
The loan limit reduction under consideration by the Federal Housing Finance Agency wouldnt have a major impact on the volume of agency MBS issuance, but industry analysts say prepayment rates on outstanding agency MBS could slow. Mortgages with loan balances greater than $417,000 accounted for 7.9 percent of the $327.76 billion in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac production in the second quarter of 2013. And mortgages with balances of between $400,000 and $417,000 accounted for a 7.2 percent share, though a significant portion of those originations were in areas with high-cost loan limits and would likely still be eligible for sale to the government-sponsored enterprises. Analysts at Barclays Capital said...
Investors are eager to get their hands on upcoming risk-sharing deals from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac even though Freddies recent deal was unrated. According to interviews with investors in Freddies $500 million Structured Agency Credit Risk bond, 50 different companies bought into the deal with at least 20 different investors in each tranche, according to confidential research on the transaction supplied to Inside MBS & ABS. Word has gotten around...