Officials at the Securities and Exchange Commission see the final rule on disclosures recently issued by the federal regulator as bringing major changes to the non-agency mortgage-backed security market. However, whether issuers will offer non-agency MBS subject to the disclosure requirements is largely in the hands of investors that have been willing to buy securities not subject to the SEC’s standards. Beginning in 2017, issuers of publically registered non-agency MBS will have to disclose 270 data points, mostly at loan level. The disclosure requirements in the SEC’s Reg AB2 rule do not apply to 144A offerings, although some observers expect the SEC eventually to extend them to private placements.

The FHA Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund account balances fell by $0.5 billion during the second quarter of 2014 to $45.3 billion due to higher claim payments and property expenses. Observers, nonetheless, remain optimistic the fund will return to full stability in 2015 with no further change in the mortgage insurance premium charged to borrowers. The MMIF’s total balances peaked at $48.4 billion in the third quarter of 2013 and then slipped gradually over the last three quarters, according to data in the FHA’s latest report to Congress regarding the financial health of the Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund. Total revenues from premium collections, property sale, and note sale proceeds were $4.3 billion, while $5.1 billion was paid to cover claims and property expenses in the second quarter. This resulted in a negative$821 million cash flow in the quarter, the smallest outflow since ...

The average FHA credit score in the second quarter of 2014 continued to decline from the record highs of 2011, but remains well above the levels preceding the mortgage and credit crisis, according to FHA’s latest report to Congress on the state of the agency’s Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund. The FHA’s second-quarter average credit score of 680 was 3 points below the previous quarter’s score and 13 points below the score during the same period last year. The report’s data suggest that FHA has accomplished its goal of shifting its market share to the 620-679 credit score bucket consistent with its target market while ceding its share of loans with scores exceeding 720 to the private MI sector. The last time borrowers’ average credit score hit 680 was in the second quarter of 2009. FHA officials said they are working to have 75 percent of the FHA lending in the ...

The first-quarter decline in FHA jumbo production spilled over into the second quarter as volume dropped another 21.7 percent, ending the first half of the year with $4.7 billion in new government-insured jumbo loans, according to an Inside FHA Lending analysis of agency snapshot data. On a year-over-year basis, volume fell 56.7 percent over the six-month period compared to the same period last year. Jumbo loans make up a tiny percentage of FHA’s overall portfolio. The FHA has been weaning itself away from jumbos after Republican members of Congress accused the agency of straying from its mission by subsidizing purchases of million-dollar houses. A statutory readjustment this year brought the FHA loan limit in high-cost areas down to $625,500, the same level as the high-cost loan limits for conforming mortgages in high-cost areas. The baseline loan limits for both conforming and FHA loans in 2014 ... [1 chart]

Non-agency jumbo mortgage originations accounted for a historically high 19.4 percent of new lending during the first half of 2014, and the sector is steadily gaining ground, according to a new Inside Mortgage Finance analysis of big-ticket mortgage activity. During the second quarter of 2014, lenders originated an estimated $59.0 billion of mortgage loans that were too big to be financed through Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac or the FHA. That was up 34.1 percent from the first quarter, a noticeably bigger increase than the 25.5 percent jump in total mortgage originations for the period. Compared to last year, jumbo lending was...[Includes three data charts]

Production of conventional mortgages – those eligible for sale to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as well as jumbo loans – grew at a faster rate than the government-insured market during the second quarter of 2014, according to a new Inside Mortgage Finance analysis. Origination of conventional-conforming mortgages increased by 24.4 percent from the first quarter, climbing to an estimated $153.0 billion. While that continued to account for the biggest chunk of new business – 52.1 percent – the biggest proportional increase in new lending came in the jumbo mortgage sector, where new originations jumped 34.1 percent during the second quarter. Production of government-insured mortgages, including FHA, VA and rural housing loans, increased...[Includes two data charts]

The level of warehouse commitments rose 9.6 percent on a sequential basis in the second quarter as originations increased in the primary market, according to figures compiled by Inside MortgageFinance. Overall, commitments edged up to an estimated $30.0 billion across the industry. But compared to the same period a year ago, commitments fell a bloodcurdling 26.8 percent, reflecting the downdraft in the overall origination market over the past 12 months. According to interviews conducted by Inside Mortgage Finance over the past few weeks, usage rates improved...[Includes one data chart]

Originations of jumbo mortgages increased significantly in the second quarter of 2014 compared with the previous quarter, according to a new ranking and analysis by affiliated publication Inside Mortgage Finance. An estimated $59.0 billion in non-agency jumbos were originated in the second quarter, up 34.1 percent from the previous quarter and reversing two consecutive quarters of declining originations for the jumbo sector. Halfway through the year, jumbo production ... [Includes one data chart]

A number of real estate investment trusts are increasing their presence in the jumbo mortgage-backed security market with conduit programs as well as purchases of subordinate tranches from new MBS. Two Harbors Investment said its jumbo conduit had a pipeline with an unpaid principal balance of $650 million at the end of the second quarter of 2014, more than four times the REIT’s pipeline at March 31. Two Harbors recently issued a $267.67 million jumbo MBS, the first from the REIT this year ...

Lowering the government-sponsored enterprises’ loan limits is one of the main goals for firms involved in the non-agency market but the effort lacks broad support in the mortgage industry, let alone in Congress. Among those submitting comments to the Treasury Department this month regarding how to increase non-agency activity, the American Bankers Association was one of the biggest supporters of decreased loan limits for the GSEs. The conforming loan limit is at $417,000 and ...