First-lien mortgages held in bank and thrift portfolios increased by 4.1 percent at the end of the second quarter of 2012 compared with the same period in 2011, according to an Inside Nonconforming Markets analysis of bank call report data. The strong increase comes as banks actively sell poorly performing legacy mortgages and suggests that lenders have increased their non-agency portfolio originations. Of the 21 banks and thrifts with at least $10.0 billion in first-lien holdings as of the ... [Includes one data chart]
Thomas Hoenig, a director at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., last week called for changes to impending Basel III capital standards. Industry analysts have warned that the rules will discourage origination of nontraditional mortgages. In private discussions I find a good deal of uneasiness about Basel IIIs ability to be more effective than previous Basel efforts; however, there is a sense that we cannot go back, Hoenig said in a speech. I suggest that we not only can go back, we must. ...
New temporary guidelines for approving FHA financing for condominium projects should boost sales of condo units across the country and improve current housing market conditions, according to industry stakeholders. The Department of Housing and Urban Development announced the guideline changes on Sept. 13 after extensive consultations with industry participants. Effective for all condo project approvals and recertifications, the revised guidelines will apply until Aug. 31, 2014, unless extended by the FHA. Stakeholders are confident that the changes, though temporary, will be ...
The FHA Short Sale program may have cost the Department of Housing and Urban Development more than $1 billion in ineligible claims but only a portion may actually be recovered, according to a report from HUDs Office of the Inspector General. A HUD OIG audit estimated that the department paid $1.06 billion in claims for 11,693 preforeclosure sales that did not meet FHAs criteria for participation in the program. The OIG said it began a nationwide review of the short sale program after finding significant deficiencies in borrower qualifications during an audit of CitiMortgages preforeclosure sale claims last year. Auditors found ...
Banks and thrifts held a record $158.5 billion of non-mortgage ABS in their investment portfolios as of the midway point in 2012, according to a new Inside MBS & ABS ranking and analysis. The depository institutions increased their ABS holdings by 3.1 percent during the quarter, pushing them past the previous record of $154.9 billion at the end of 2009. Bank and thrift ABS holdings have jumped by 14.1 percent since the fourth quarter of 2011. The biggest chunk of bank ABS holdings is...[Includes one data chart]
Mortgage banking operations affiliated with banks and thrifts sold a hefty $360.0 billion of home loans during the second quarter, according to a new Inside Mortgage Trends analysis of call report data. While that marked one of the busiest markets since the end of 2010, volume was down 3.9 percent from the first three months of the year. Secondary marketing gains account for the lions share of mortgage banking profits as lenders do not recoup enough in origination fees to ... [Includes one data chart]
A growing number of market indicators suggest that the U.S. housing market has bottomed out and is on the way back and perhaps even beginning to drive economic activity. Housing, once the Achilles heel of the U.S. economy, is starting to look like a source of strength in a recovery that has lost its vigor as well as still facing significant roadblocks, said Celia Chen, senior director at Moodys Analytics, in a new analysis. That housing is now a bright spot speaks more about the weakness of the ...
Homebuyers are increasingly using mortgages instead of cash to purchase homes, according to the latest Campbell/Inside Mortgage Finance HousingPulse Tracking Survey. The share of non-cash financing methods for home purchases has increased significantly in 2012 as borrowers take advantage of low interest rates. Overall, the share of non-cash financing for home purchases increased from 65.9 percent in January to 68.9 percent in August, based on the three-month moving average. The increased use of ...
The private-sector watchdog established by Congress to examine auditing firms recently found a number of mortgage-related issues with two major auditors. The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board raised concerns about the mortgage-repurchase reserves that KPMG signed off on and about fair value measurements allowed by Grant Thornton. The PCAOB reviewed 52 audits completed by KPMG in 2011 and found that the auditor failed to sufficiently test a mortgage-backed security issuers ...
Unreasonably tight mortgage lending standards, fueled by lenders and regulators extreme distaste for risk, are dampening home sales and some flexibility is needed to drive home sales and job creation, according to a new survey by the National Association of Realtors. The survey analyzed credit scores and loan performance for both conventional conforming and FHA-VA loans and suggested returning to reasonably safe and sound lending standards to give home sales a much-needed jolt. Existing home sales should ...