As a group, commercial banks and thrifts ended the second quarter of 2018 with slightly reduced holdings of single-family MBS, although several institutions raised their stakes in the market significantly, according to a new Inside MBS & ABS analysis and ranking. [Includes two data charts.]
The average daily trading volume in agency MBS fell to $204.1 billion in July, the weakest reading of the year, according to the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association.
Mortgage servicers and investors often complain about long foreclosure timelines in states with a judicial foreclosure process, but Moody’s Investors Service said the delays will only marginally increase losses on residential MBS.
Ginnie Mae officials described a two-pronged approach to assuring MBS investors that the agency is protecting their interests from the risk that issuers might fail to deliver principal and interest payments in a timely manner.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac issued a combined $65.85 billion of single-family mortgage-backed securities last month, a 1.0 percent decline from their June total, according to an Inside The GSEs analysis of MBS data. Compared to the first seven months of 2017, the GSE single-family business was down 7.4 percent as of the end of July. Most of the month-to-month slump was at Freddie, where MBS production fell 8.9 percent from June. Fannie managed a 5.0 percent increase in July. Both GSEs are off about the same on a year-to-date basis. [Includes two data charts.]
The Mortgage Bankers Association called upon Congress to pass legislation to restore Ginnie Mae eligibility for so-called orphaned VA loans, which have caused a temporary disruption in the government-backed secondary market. In written testimony to the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs last week, the MBA urged lawmakers to make technical corrections to restore the eligibility of certain Interest Rate Reduction Refinance Loans for pooling. The MBA estimated the VA orphan loan mess at roughly $500 million. Due to new loan seasoning requirements in the recently enacted Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act, sime IRRRLs were rendered ineligible for Ginnie MBS pools. The loans were in transit when legislation addressing the problem of VA loan churning and serial refinancing became law in May. The new law’s seasoning provisions turned out to be ...
On Aug. 1, the U.S. Senate voted 92-6 to pass a four-bill appropriations package that includes FY 2019 funding for the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Department of Agriculture housing programs. The bill passed without changes to program funding levels previously approved by Senate appropriators. The House Appropriations Committee has approved FY19 spending bills for both HUD and USDA. The full House, which is away for the summer break until Sept. 4, has not yet voted on the package. The Senate bill retains the previous fiscal year’s $400 billion in new loan commitments in the FHA Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund and $30 billion for the general insurance and special risk insurance program, which include special purpose single- and multifamily loans, multifamily rental housing and condominiums. The bill also sets aside $550 billion for Ginnie Mae ...
Fewer rural single-family mortgages and modified home loans with a USDA guarantee were securitized during the first six months of 2018 compared to last year. Delivery of USDA loans into Ginnie Mae pools over the last two quarters totaled $8.6 billion, down 10.1 percent from the same period last year but up 12.4 percent in the second quarter from the prior period. PennyMac topped all USDA issuers with $1.7 billion worth of rural housing MBS issued during the first half of 2018, up 22.1 percent year-over-year. New issuance also rose 30.0 percent in the second quarter from the previous quarter, enough for a 20.2 percent share of the securitized USDA market. ... [chart]
Fannie Mae Updates HECM Servicing Manual. Fannie Mae has updated its Reverse Mortgage Loan Servicing Manual to include changes related to real estate-owned hazard-insurance requirements. The policy change applies only to Home Equity Conversion Mortgage REO. The revised manual now requires that, for HECM loans, the servicer must place a property insurance policy on the acquired property in accordance with Department of Housing and Urban Development guidelines. Coverage must be up to the HUD foreclosure appraisal amount or the deed-in-lieu property valuation amount. Should the servicer be unable to obtain a HUD foreclosure appraisal or deed-in-lieu property valuation, it must place coverage in accordance with HUD guidelines and up to the unpaid principal balance amount. Fannie encouraged immediate servicer implementation of the policy. However, the ...