The FHA is developing standards that would allow FHA financing on homes with existing Property Assessed Clean Energy liens going forward. Specifically, the guidance would require subordination of PACE financing to first-lien FHA mortgages. The FHA is also working on a monitoring mechanism to track the number of PACE loans with FHA insurance in the future, said a HUD spokesman. Mortgage market analysts say FHA’s action could lead to broader adoption of the PACE program for FHA-insured single-family homes. The Mortgage Bankers Association, in a statement, applauded the move. “This modification should allow some homeowners to install energy improvements in their home but not impede the rights of the first lien, something the original PACE program failed to consider,” said David Stevens, MBA president and CEO. PACE programs allow local governments to raise bond-funded financing to ...

Meanwhile, refinance lending rose just 0.9 percent from the first to the second quarter, but still accounted for just over half of new originations during the period.

The Blackstone Group said it has acquired a “significant” stake in The PMI Group, a once-bankrupt mortgage insurer that is now in receivership.

Glass told IMFnews that he has seen a noticeable uptick in searches for what he calls “senior leadership” positions...

Meanwhile, 37.0 percent of realtors indicated they have put together plans with their lender or title company to help even out the process...

Moreover, one warehouse executive told IMFnews that he is beginning to get requests for increased capacity.

The rating service predicted that in the coming months, more lenders will be willing to offer non-QMs that allow for debt-to-income ratios above 50 percent and credit scores as low as 620.

According to a new report from Compass Point Research & Trading, a gain-on-sale index the firm created has been contracting the past month...

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac reported big declines in mortgage repurchases and their inventories of unresolved buyback requests during the second quarter of 2015, according to a new Inside The GSEs analysis of disclosures filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Freddie reported a 19.1 percent drop in repurchases from the first to the second quarter of 2015, while Fannie’s decline was a more modest 3.9 percent. Together, the two GSEs reported $436.3 million in repurchased or indemnified loans during the second quarter, the lowest amount since Fannie, Freddie and other “securitizers” began reporting repurchase activity in early 2012. On a combined basis, Fannie and Freddie reported new lows in pending repurchases ($732.2 million) and disputed buyback requests...

Generally speaking, declining interest rates are welcomed by most mortgage market participants – unless the drop is both precipitous and unexpected, which is exactly what occurred over the past 10 days, thanks to the worldwide stock market carnage. As the weekend approached, the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury bond was at 2.17 percent, but earlier in the week – while stocks sold off – the yield fell to as low as 1.90 percent. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac watchers are now wondering if given the steep (and unexpected) decline in rates, perhaps the two government-controlled mortgage giants will report large hedging losses for the third quarter.