The FHA’s effort to reduce its presence in the mortgage market to make room for private capital would be derailed if Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac raised their guaranty fees, warned an agency official. Responding to a question during the Mortgage Bankers Association’s annual convention, Charles Coulter, deputy assistant secretary for single-family housing at the Department of Housing and Urban Development, said the FHA is currently “priced appropriately” and sees no need to further increase mortgage insurance premiums. The FHA has lost about 20 percent of its share of originations after five MIP increases in ...
Ginnie Mae issuers reported a 14.0 percent drop in mortgage-backed securities issuances in the third quarter from the previous quarter as refinance activity declined further and home-purchase lending slowed during the period, according to an Inside FHA Lending analysis of Ginnie Mae data. Despite the quarter-over-quarter drop, Ginnie production rose 11.2 percent in the first nine months of 2013. Volume over this period totaled $313.8 million, of which 60.3 percent were FHA loans, 33.9 percent were VA, and 5.2 percent were rural housing loans. Ginnie MBS issuance dropped gradually ... [2 charts]
Recapitalization of RMIC Will Pave the Way for a Return to MI Market. Old Republic International (ORI) is planning to recapitalize its mortgage guaranty subsidiary, RMIC Companies, Inc., which could resume underwriting in early 2014. Old Republic plans to contribute up to $50 million of new capital and raise additional funds, which would allow RMIC and its subsidiaries to fully support existing policies, pay off deferred claim obligations, exit state supervision, and resume underwriting new business early next year. The cash infusion would require ...
The focus on purchase mortgages became urgent as interest rates started to increase in May, settling for the moment about 100 basis points higher than they were in April, reducing demand for refinances.
Will the banks that bought “junior” preferred stock in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac prior to the housing bust ever be made whole? Will investors that purchased the preferred after that time eventually be rewarded for the gamble they took on such a highly speculative investment? Those two questions look a lot more interesting these days thanks to continued strong earnings from the two government-sponsored enterprises. According to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Fannie and Freddie say...
The average guaranty fees charged by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac on new business continued to climb during the third quarter, with a sizable slice going straight into the U.S. Treasury. Fannie reported that the average guaranty fee on new business was 58.7 basis points during the third quarter of 2013, up from 56.9 bps during the second quarter. Freddie continued to charge lower fees than its rival, 53.2 bps during the third quarter, up from 50.7 bps in the previous period. A year ago, Fannie’s average fee on new business was...
Investors and analysts are starting to wonder if Nationstar Mortgage bit off more than it could chew with its multi-billion dollar servicing purchases of the past two years. Sources say the company recently hired PricewaterhouseCoopers as a consultant to look at its quickly growing $375 billion servicing portfolio. A spokesman for the company dismissed...
The last time private MIs did more business than either the FHA or the VA was back in the first quarter of 2008. At that point, however, private MIs accounted for well over half of primary MI new business.
The frothy prices being offered for MSRs are beginning to cool somewhat. “There’s definitely a tighter range on bids lately,” said Matt Maurer, managing director of MountainView Servicing Group.
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