Ginnie Mae issuers produced $36.68 billion of new single-family mortgage-backed securities last month, a modest 5.0 percent gain from July, according to a new Inside FHA/VA Lending analysis and ranking. Through the first eight months of the year, Ginnie issuance was down 11.0 percent from the same period in 2017. The MBS figures do not include FHA home-equity conversion mortgages, and loan amounts are truncated to the lowest $1,000. Purchase mortgages accounted for 75.6 percent of new issuance in August, although volume was up just 1.9 percent from July’s level. On a year-to-date basis, the purchase-mortgage share rose from 65.7 percent in 2017 to 70.0 percent for the first eight months of this year. Total volume, however, was down 5.1 percent. The refinance market has been more wobbly. As of the end of August, refi volume totaled $65.87 billion, down 26.2 percent from the ... [Chart]

Home Equity Conversion Mortgage originations fell dramatically in the second quarter, raising the possibility of a long reverse-mortgage winter in 2018, according to an Inside FHA/VA Lending analysis of HECM data. HECM production fell a whopping 40.9 percent in the second quarter from the previous period. Total HECM originations stood at $8.6 billion by the six-month mark, down 8.3 percent from the prior year. Traditional HECMs, which exclude purchases and refinances, accounted for 80.5 percent of FHA-insured reverse mortgages originated during the first half of 2018. The amount of funds available at loan origination for the first six months totaled $4.7 billion. Analysts blame the low HECM originations on the new lower Principal Limit Factors (PLFs) for HECMs, which became effective in FY 2018. Under the HECM final rule issued last year by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, principal limits [Chart]

The weighted-average coupon is 6.50 percent.

Self-employed borrowers that can’t qualify for non-agency qualified mortgages could see relief from a bill introduced in the Senate last week.

Blackstone TORO likes to buy non-QM products...

All of the loans in the deal were originated by Flagstar...

John Anzalone of Invesco Mortgage: “In particular, there are a few very aggressive large buyers out there that get a lot of attention and have caused quite a bit of spread compression…”

According to industry consultant Rick Roque, residential originators are not lowering loan officer compensation quickly enough...

Angel Oak and Citadel Servicing, two of the larger originators of expanded-credit products, each increased production by more than 30.0 percent from the first to the second quarter.

Origination capacity in the mortgage industry remains “elevated,” according to a new report from PiperJaffray.