Ginnie Mae issuance of government-insured mortgage-backed securities rose a whopping 47.3 percent in the second quarter of 2015 from the previous quarter, powered by a robust FHA refinancing volume, according to an Inside FHA/VA Lending analysis of agency data. Government-backed Ginnie MBS production in the second quarter totaled $117.5 billion, up from $79.8 billion in the prior quarter. Volume year-to-date also increased by 57.7 percent from the first six months of last year. From May to June, government-backed securitization increased a modest 2.9 percent. FHA loans comprised 62.6 percent of Ginnie MBS issuance in the second quarter while VA accounted for 33.7 percent. Securitized loans with a Rural Housing Service guaranty represented 3.6 percent of total Ginnie MBS issuance during the period. FHA loan securitization was robust in the second quarter, as volume ... [ Charts ]

Lending to veterans and members of the U.S. military is expected to trend up in the second half of 2015 as the economy improves further, wages rise and unemployment declines, predicts the country’s top VA lender. “We’re seeing increased activity in housing while house values have gone up modestly, which I expect will continue in the next couple of years,” said Stan Middleman, president and chief executive of Freedom Mortgage. It is a great time for veterans to purchase a home, Middleman said, and he would he like to see more vets become homeowners. However, despite the low interest rates, crisp and clear underwriting and no downpayment required, many veterans are still not taking advantage of the VA program as they should, he noted. Middleman feels he should advertise and market the VA product more. In the past seven months, Freedom Mortgage has added ...

The Department of Veterans Affairs has announced measures lenders may employ to provide relief to VA borrowers whose lives and homes were upended by recent severe storms, tornados and flooding in Texas, Oklahoma and Guam. VA mortgage relief would be available to the families of borrowers who died during these natural catastrophes and to borrowers whose homes were badly damaged or destroyed. Relief is also available to those whose work environments were destroyed or severely damaged. Other people have been indirectly affected as well, and the impact may continue to ripple throughout the country, as evacuees travel nationwide to seek support and shelter from family members in unaffected areas, according to the VA. VA encourages holders of guaranteed loans to extend forbearance to distressed borrowers and to provide counseling to them. Lenders are also authorized under VA regulations to reapply prepayments to ...

Thanks to the recent uptick in interest rates, sellers of mortgage servicing rights are seeing strong bids on new production, but the market is being described by advisors as “sustainable,” compared to some of the frothy peaks of last year. June was actually a slow month for servicing sales, dealmakers told Inside Mortgage Finance, but that was to be expected, given all the contracts inked in April and May that needed time to close. With the second quarter having just ended, several large flow and bulk MSR transactions are...

The nation’s subservicers increased their contracts to a record high $1.350 trillion at March 31 as tougher regulations continued to play a key role in the shifting of processing chores away from depositories to nonbanks. On a sequential basis, contracts increased by 7.1 percent in the first quarter and 14.4 percent compared to March 31, 2014, according to a new Inside Mortgage Finance ranking. Only four banks – Flagstar, Cenlar, Wells Fargo and Bank of America – were among the top 20 subservicers. Overall, at March 31, subservicers were...[Includes one data table]

Two weeks ago, specialty servicer Wingspan Portfolio Services shuttered its Melbourne, FL, office, leaving 150 servicing workers without a job. But more bad news may be on the way for the once fast-growing “contract” servicer. According to industry officials close to the company, the privately held Wingspan is in need of new contracts – badly. …

The U.S. Conference of Mayors has joined a growing number of entities urging the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and certain major banks to stop selling distressed and nonperforming mortgages to Wall Street investors. Rather than sell pools of NPLs to private-equity firms, hedge funds and other speculators, sell them to qualified nonprofits for the purpose of saving homes from foreclosure and creating affordable housing, the group stated in a resolution co-sponsored by 17 mayors. The mayors point to a joint study issued recently by the Center for Popular Democracy and the ACCE Institute. The study said most NPL pools are auctioned off at steep discounts to hedge funds and private-equity firms. “Although Fannie and Freddie have been unwilling to offer principal reduction to struggling homeowners, they often offer steep discounts when they ...

Earlier this year, Pingora Asset Management was out in the market trying to raise another $500 million to buy mortgage servicing rights, but wasn’t having much luck, according to industry sources. But in late June it found something a little more enticing: a buyer to acquire the entire company and its affiliate, Pingora Loan Servicing, without its existing book of receivables. As soon as Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and other vested parties approve the purchase, the new owner will be ...

Ginnie Mae securitized $6.6 billion of VA jumbo loans in the first three months of 2015, up 15.9 percent from the prior quarter, according to an Inside FHA/VA Lending analysis of Ginnie Mae data.Jumbo loans – single-family mortgages with loan amounts exceeding $417,000 – comprised 18.7 percent of total VA originations in the first quarter. VA jumbo originations outpaced FHA jumbo production, which totaled $2.8 billion in the first quarter, up 17.0 percent from the prior quarter, according to the Inside Mortgage Finance database. VA jumbos in Ginnie mortgage-backed securities issued in the first quarter included modified VA loans as well as those originated in Alaska, Guam, Hawaii and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Wells Fargo ranked first among securitizers of VA jumbos in the first quarter, with $1.3 billion in production. Second-ranked Freedom Mortgage conveyed $652.7 million in ... [ 1 chart ]

With issuance of non-agency mortgage-backed securities unable to keep pace with disappearing volume from vintage deals, bank and thrift holdings of non-agency MBS continue to decline. The holdings were down somewhat more than usual in the first quarter of 2015, suggesting sales by some banks. Banks and thrifts held $111.48 billion in non-agency MBS as of the end of the first quarter of 2015, according to the Inside Mortgage Finance Bank Mortgage Database. The holdings declined by 16.1 percent compared with the first quarter of 2014, including an 11.0 percent decline compared with the fourth quarter of 2014 ... [Includes one data table.]