Single-family mortgage business slowed predictably at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac last month, although there was surprising resilience in the refinance market. [Includes two data charts.]

The Trump administration is reportedly eyeing Mark Calabria, who now serves as chief economist for Vice President Mike Pence, as the next director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, a five-year post that holds tremendous power over the government-sponsored enterprises.

The proposed capital requirements for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac aim for risk-based standards that will allow the government-sponsored enterprises – and future competitors – to earn an acceptable return while remaining strong enough to withstand severe economic downturns.

A lot of pieces have fallen into place for the scheduled June 2019 launch of the single security in the to-be-announced market, but one that hasn’t is a greenlight from the organization that sets TBA rules: the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association.

Impac CEO George Mangiaracina: “I don’t believe we’ve seen capitulation yet with respect to other originators.”

In its comment letter to the FHFA, Fannie Mae suggests the rule should use original credit scores and LTV ratios, rather than mark-to-market values…

Wells Fargo remained the top producer of correspondent-originated loans with $26.64 billion in third-quarter volume and a 20.2 percent share of the market…

Ed Pinto wants a 4.0 percent capital ratio for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac...

The largest gain among the 14 companies was 3.6 percent, the largest decline -5.6 percent.

The decline in market share for jumbos has occurred as interest rates have risen.