Some industry experts say mortgage executives will not feel safe about originating – or securitizing – more than a miniscule amount of non-agency loans until the government stops taking “retribution” against the housing finance industry for the sins of the housing bust. Lewis Ranieri, who helped launched the mortgage-backed security business, said the biggest victims of the mortgage crisis are minority borrowers and young workers who no longer qualify for credit because of tight underwriting guidelines promulgated by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac since they went into conservatorship back in September 2008. But tight underwriting isn’t the sole problem, Ranieri argued...

Investors have significantly reduced their home-purchase activity in recent months, according to the latest Campbell/Inside Mortgage Finance HousingPulse Tracking Survey. Current homeowners and first-time homebuyers have filled the void and are much more likely to finance a home purchase with a mortgage compared to investors. Investors accounted for 20.2 percent of home purchases in May, based on the three-month moving average, the third consecutive decline in investor share. Market share for both current homeowners and first-time homebuyers increased in recent months, with current homeowners accounting for 43.8 percent of home purchases in May. The trends present...

Yet another plan to reshape the mortgage market has been published, this one from noted housing economist Mark Zandi, and Ellen Seidman, once the nation's top S&L regulator.

MBA pushes for GSE AU engines to be synchronized. Meanwhile, a factoid of mortgage history: Treasury chief Paulson wanted Fannie and Freddie put in receivership.

With rates rising and refis falling, will certain mortgage companies head for the exits? And if they do, will they get too greedy on the sale price?

Former GSE regulator James Lockhart noted that only one “catastrophic” guarantor is needed, though he stressed that “you need more than one issuer.”

Residual income is the amount of money left after deducting a borrower’s housing and installment debt from gross monthly income.

Only a crazy person would speculate in GSE junior preferred stock. Meanwhile, Dr. Frankenstein reveals himself.

Former rating analysts at two of the major rating services told the Securities and Exchange Commission that problems with the rating system are due to management at the rating services, not the analysts in charge of assigning ratings.

Lewis Ranieri, one of the inventors of the non-agency mortgage-backed security, said there are currently a lack of viable alternatives to agency mortgages.