California remained the biggest market in the U.S. for primary mortgage insurance during the second quarter, but other states had higher proportions of insured loans, according to an Inside Mortgage Trends analysis of agency loan-level data. In Florida, Virginia and Georgia, more than 60 percent of agency loans carried some form of primary mortgage insurance ... [Includes one data chart]

The Department of Housing and Urban Development has issued an interpretive rule to clear up some of the confusion created by the recently approved Dodd-Frank reform act regarding the eligibility of certain VA refinance loans to serve as Ginnie Mae collateral. Although interpretive rules are exempted from public comment under the Administrative Procedures Act, HUD is seeking public input on its interpretation of the loan-seasoning provision of the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act, which President Trump signed into law on May 24, 2018. Among other things, the statute prohibits Ginnie from guaranteeing payment on a security backed by a mortgage that does not meet its seasoning requirements. The protective measure was designed to deter lenders from encouraging veterans to refinance their loans often and repeatedly. Loan churning led to faster prepayment speeds on the ...

The mortgage industry this week continued to look for ways to resolve the VA streamline refi loan mess, which arose from the implementation of statutory seasoning requirements under the Dodd-Frank reform act, even as Ginnie Mae pointed to Congress to come up with a solution. At issue is approximately $500 million worth of “orphaned” VA Interest Rate Reduction Refinance Loans that are now ineligible for Ginnie Mae securitization. The Mortgage Bankers Association is asking Congress for a legislative fix but is also looking for other forms of relief. Pete Mills, MBA’s senior vice president of residential policy and member management, is trying to drum up investor interest in the orphan loans, which, for now, appear destined for the secondary “scratch and dent” market. More buyers could potentially generate higher bids for the loans and lower losses for nonbanks that could not deliver them ...

The mortgage industry this week continued to look for a fix to the VA Interest Rate Reduction Refinance Loan mess, which has imperiled roughly $500 million worth of government product that is now ineligible for Ginnie Mae securitization.

The average daily trading volume in agency MBS fell to $223.2 billion in June, a slight decline from the month prior, according to figures compiled by the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association.

The easing of qualified-mortgage standards under the Dodd-Frank reform bill could be credit negative for nonprime residential MBS backed by loans originated by nonbanks, Moody’s Investors Service said. But an industry expert disagrees.

Non-agency MBS investors might not be aware of the differences in representations and warranties provided by issuers of new non-agency MBS, according to Fitch Ratings. In a recent report, the rating service noted that issuers are diverging from standard practices in terms of “full” rep-and-warrant frameworks.

A handful of issuers of non-agency mortgage-backed securities not rated by Fitch Ratings were called out in a report by the rating service regarding representations and warranties. The report released at the end of June detailed how reps, warrants and enforcement provisions for various issuers compare with a “full” rep-and-warrant framework established by Fitch. The rating service includes an assessment of reps and warrants for all of the non-agency MBS the firm rates but the report also ...

The spring homebuying season fueled a relatively modest increase in production of Ginnie Mae single-family mortgage-backed securities during the second quarter of 2018, according to a new Inside FHA/VA Lending ranking and analysis. Lenders issued $98.66 billion of Ginnie MBS backed by forward mortgages during the April-May cycle. That was up 6.6 percent from the first three months of the year, but 2018 continued to lag behind the pace set in 2017 by 10.7 percent. Given current trends, annual Ginnie MBS issuance in 2018 could fall short of the $400 billion mark for the first time since 2014. The flow of FHA and VA purchase mortgages was up a solid 23.7 percent from the first to the second quarter, bringing the total for the first half of the year to $121.01 billion. However, that was down 4.7 percent from the same period in 2017. Ginnie securitized $75.02 billion of FHA purchase loans in the ... [Charts]

Collectively, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac recorded a modest increase in new single-family business from the first quarter of 2018 to the second, but the bird’s-eye view misses some key details. [Includes three data charts.]