“This appears to be very good news and is a credit to our collective work with the Coalition for Sensible Housing Policy,” the National Association of Realtors told its members.
We’re hearing unconfirmed reports that the Federal Housing Finance Agency may not hire a chief executive and chairman for the common securitization platform project after all…
Strong appetite from lenders for jumbo mortgages wasn’t enough to overcome the overall decline in mortgage production in the first quarter of 2014. Jumbo originations declined by 21.4 percent compared with the fourth quarter of 2013, according to a new ranking and analysis by Inside Nonconforming Markets. And the estimated $44.0 billion in jumbos originated in the first quarter was down by 31.3 percent compared with the same period in 2013. The non-agency jumbo sector has gained some market share during that time as overall production has declined even more. Jumbos accounted for 18.7 percent of total originations in the first quarter of 2014, a level not seen since 2004. Wells Fargo remained...[Includes one data chart]
Among the 12 questions that the FHFA asks the public to consider is this: “If the enterprises [Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac] continue to raise g-fees, will overall loan originations decrease?”
Before the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau implemented standards for qualified mortgages, few lenders admitted that they were willing to offer non-QMs. However, in recent weeks, a number of lenders have touted their entrance into the sector, providing Ethos Lending with plenty of competition. Some of the non-QM lenders are sticking to relatively safe offerings of interest-only mortgages to well-qualified borrowers, while others see a strong market in non-QMs for borrowers that might not qualify for agency financing. This week, Caliber Home Loans announced...
Lenders that dabble in loans that don’t pass the qualified-mortgage test are going to be very selective about which borrowers they accept, and the loans are most likely to be held in portfolio, according to speakers at a recent industry conference in New York City. “We have used our balance sheet to retain non-QM loans in certain situations,” said Russell Brady, an assistant vice president at Elevations Credit Union. “This can make sense, but you have to do it in a controlled way with all the controls in place,” he said during a panel at the Secondary Market Conference sponsored by the Mortgage Bankers Association. The QM limit of 43 percent on debt-to-income ratio is...
Officials at Hudson City Bancorp said the jumbo portfolio lender is facing a significant loss of potential originations this year due to the documentation requirements included in the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s ability-to-repay rule. In January, Hudson City stopped offering mortgages with reduced-documentation standards due to the implementation of the ATR rule. Such loans accounted for 22.0 percent of the lender’s $3.44 billion in production in 2013. “We discontinued...
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s ability-to-repay rule is unlikely to prompt a significant increase in litigation, according to DBRS. The rating service last week released its criteria for non-agency MBS with loans subject to the ATR rule and standards for qualified mortgages. “Although there are no historical ATR claim data to help forecast the rate of borrower challenges, DBRS anticipates that any action against lenders within a securitization trust will be minimal due to the uncertainty of borrower success and significant legal costs that potentially can be incurred.” In addition, third-party due-diligence reviews that confirm ATR compliance and representations-and-warranties obligations that motivate lenders to adhere to underwriting guidelines make litigation less likely, the rating service said. DBRS added...
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