Ginnie Mae has added a new metric to make it easier for approved issuers to track the prepayment rates of single-family loans underlying they have delivered into mortgage-backed securities. The new prepayment metric would enhance Ginnie’s Issuer Operational Performance Profile (IOPP) tool, which was launched in 2015 to help issuers measure their performance against the agency’s standards. The new tool is the latest move by Ginnie to ensure the integrity and market predictability of Ginnie MBS. The prepayment tool will be available to lenders beginning June 25. The announcement follows an agency administrative action last week against three VA lenders that were penalized for cherry picking and refinancing unseasoned VA loans not to benefit borrowers but to charge them higher fees. The lenders – Freedom Mortgage, SunWest Mortgage Co. and NewDay USA – were among nine issuers that ...

Ginnie Mae continued to lead the growth in agency single-family MBS outstanding during the first quarter of 2018, according to a new Inside MBS & ABS analysis. [Includes three data charts.]

With loan production of non-qualified mortgages continuing to gather a head of steam, Wall Street financiers, conduits and warehouse lenders increasingly are taking a keen interest in the sector.

The average daily trading volume in agency MBS climbed to $226.1 billion in May, the second consecutive monthly increase, according to figures compiled by the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association.

TIAA and Angel Oak Companies look likely to price separate new MBS before the end of the second quarter, according to documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. JPMorgan Chase is also preparing an MBS that could differ from its typical issuance. Merrill Lynch agreed to a settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission this week regarding non-agency mortgage-backed security trading from 2009 through 2012 ... [Includes two briefs]

Reverse mortgage lenders started out strong in the first three month of 2018 with a 19.2 percent increase in Home Equity Conversion Mortgage production from the previous period. HECM endorsements totaled $5.4 billion in the first quarter, with purchase reverse loans accounting for the bulk of originations, 81.9 percent. First quarter production was up 18.5 percent from the same period last year. Meanwhile, HECM mortgage-backed securities issuance totaled $2.97 billion for the quarter, down from $3.25 billion in the prior quarter, Ginnie Mae data showed. The top five HECM originators in sequential order – American Advisors Group, Reverse Mortgage Funding, One Reverse Mortgage, Liberty Home Equity Solutions, and Synergy One Lending – accounted for $1.66 billion, or 30.8 percent, of total production during the first quarter. American Advisors maintained its top ranking with $841.4 million of HECM loans, which ... [Charts]

Ginnie Mae this week warned that VA refinance loans, particularly Interest Rate Reduction Refinance Loans, may not be included in any new pool or loan package if they do not comply with the newly enacted law protecting VA borrowers from predatory lending. The agency announced new pooling guidance pursuant to the loan-seasoning provision in the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act, which President Trump signed into law last week (See details of the new law below ). The changes affect issuances of Ginnie mortgage-backed securities on or after June 1, 2018, but do not affect MBS issued before that date, according to the guidance. However, lenders seeking a guarantee after June 1 may have to recalibrate their loan-origination platforms to exclude refis that do not meet the new law’s seasoning requirements, said the Structured Finance Industry Group. The ...

California continued to lead all states in FHA and VA mortgage securitization in the first three months of 2018. The Golden State accounted for 15.3 percent of the $50.6 billion of FHA loans delivered into Ginnie Mae mortgage-backed securities in the first quarter. FHA loans comprised 18.2 percent of loans securitized by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae, and 34.6 percent of agency-securitized loans with primary mortgage insurance. About 66.6 percent of FHA loans securitized during the period were for purchase mortgages while refinance loans accounted for 27.5 percent. The average loan-to-value ratio of FHA loans in Ginnie pools was 93.0 percent. The average credit score of 668.2 reflected FHA’s traditional base of lower-income and first-time homebuyers, with an average debt-to-income ratio of 42.4 percent. The other states among the top five in terms of FHA deliveries into Ginnie pools were ... [Chart]

President Trump this week announced Michael Bright as his choice to lead Ginnie Mae, an agency under the Department of Housing and Urban Development, even as Senate Democrats continued to delay vote on his nominee for FHA commissioner. Bright is currently Ginnie Mae’s executive vice president and chief operating officer, though he has been serving as acting president since Theodore Tozer stepped down on Jan. 20, 2017. Tozer served as Ginnie president under the Obama administration for nearly seven years. Bright joined Ginnie on July 11, 2017. Previously, he served as director for financial markets at the Milken Institute and as senior vice president of BlackRock/PennyMac. During his time with Milken, Bright co-authored a paper with Ed DeMarco, former acting director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency and currently president of the Financial Services Roundtable, which proposed to ...

After an extended period of steady growth in its investment in the residential MBS market, the banking industry changed course in early 2018 and reduced its participation in the market, according to a new Inside MBS & ABS ranking and analysis. [Includes two data charts.]