The retained mortgage portfolios of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac continued to decline through natural attrition during the first quarter of 2013, falling by 4.9 percent from the previous quarter, according to an Inside MBS & ABS analysis of earnings reports released by the two government-sponsored enterprises this week. Fannie and Freddie held $1.13 trillion in mortgage assets as of the end of March. With heavy refinance activity, the rate of decline in early 2013 was faster than it had been; GSE holdings were down 13.6 percent from year-ago levels. There was...[Included one data chart]

Bank of America and MBIA announced a settlement this week of a long-running dispute regarding representations and warranties on mortgages securitized by Countrywide Financial. The settlement benefits non-agency MBS wrapped by MBIA, according to industry analysts. The settlement applies to all outstanding rep and warrant claims and all other claims between the bank and bond guarantor. BofA agreed to pay MBIA approximately $1.6 billion in cash and remit to MBIA all of the outstanding notes in the firm that BofA acquired in December. BofA also will terminate...

Ginnie Mae President Ted Tozer said the agency wants to phase out the Ginnie I MBS program.

The first GSE risk sharing transaction is likely to be a senior-subordinate structure and be issued as a credit-linked note.

Will investors in GSE stock sue the federal government for "sweeping" earnings out of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac? Meanwhile, PennyMac worries about its "Countrywide" problem.

One of the things that is unusual about this housing recovery is the extent to which it has been supported by investors – and not just individuals looking for rental property. Institutional investors have jumped into the rental home market in a way not seen before, and that is benefitting some industries you might not expect, or in ways you may not have anticipated. “In traditional housing recoveries, individuals and households provide the bulk of the demand the market needs to rebound,” said ...

Officials at Ocwen Financial were highly critical of the accounting methods used by other servicers that have acquired significant holdings of mortgage servicing rights recently. Ocwen might also soon have more cash than necessary for its planned acquisition opportunities, with officials considering initiating a stock buyback. William Erbey, Ocwen’s chairman, said his company is considerably less leveraged than other servicers. He noted that Ocwen carries most of its MSRs at market value rather than ...

The issue of Fannie Mae encouraging lenders to sell for cash instead of securitizing has been a hot topic over the past few months.

Fannie Mae is set to "give back" $50.6 billion to the U.S. Treasury by June 30, thanks to stellar earnings and accounting treatment of deferred tax assets.

Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and their government overseer are considering adding new features to the common securitization platform in addition to the major components in the initial design, according to officials speaking at the Mortgage Bankers Association Secondary Market Conference in New York this week. A potential addition to the project would include “life flow data” about the mortgage transaction, said Manoj Singh, associate director in the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s Office of Strategic Initiatives. The common securitization platform, or CSP, has been focused on the securitization function, but feedback from the industry has raised the prospect of expanding it to house all the data points that could be needed over the life of the loan, including foreclosure disposition, if it comes to that. Once the government-sponsored enterprises start...