California continued to lead all states in FHA and VA mortgage securitization in the first three months of 2018. The Golden State accounted for 15.3 percent of the $50.6 billion of FHA loans delivered into Ginnie Mae mortgage-backed securities in the first quarter. FHA loans comprised 18.2 percent of loans securitized by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae, and 34.6 percent of agency-securitized loans with primary mortgage insurance. About 66.6 percent of FHA loans securitized during the period were for purchase mortgages while refinance loans accounted for 27.5 percent. The average loan-to-value ratio of FHA loans in Ginnie pools was 93.0 percent. The average credit score of 668.2 reflected FHA’s traditional base of lower-income and first-time homebuyers, with an average debt-to-income ratio of 42.4 percent. The other states among the top five in terms of FHA deliveries into Ginnie pools were ... [Chart]

In what is largely an intellectual exercise, Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Mel Watt said last week that the agency will propose a new risk-based capital rule for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac even though it won’t apply while they’re in conservatorship.

The surge in CRT debt issuance came during a time when new MBS production for the GSEs sank by 19.3 percent.

CFPB’s Mick Mulvaney: “Today, after an exhaustive review by outside experts, including a comprehensive ‘white-hat hacking’ effort, we can lift that hold.”

“We’re partnering with external firms to understand and anticipate their needs,” said Freddie Mac official Kevin Palmer…

Mortgages for self-employed borrowers look to be an area of growth for non-agency lenders. Embrace Home Loans and Truss Financial Group introduced separate products for self-employed borrowers recently. Embrace said its “beyond” products will provide finance to borrowers that other lenders have denied. “Beyond is our program that offers financing solutions for borrowers who don’t easily fit into the guidelines for conventional mortgages,” the lender said. “They call it ...

First-time buyers continue to fight the challenges of rising house prices, higher interest rates and depleted inventory…

The Federal Housing Finance Agency said it is most concerned about whether the government-sponsored enterprises are resilient and able to quickly recover from a disaster. In the agency’s annual report to Congress released last week, the regulator listed a number of management and supervisory concerns spotted by FHFA examiners in 2017.

During the first quarter, the average credit score at Fannie Mae was 741.15, slightly below the average 744.73 at Freddie Mac.

However, Freddie still has some catching up to do to reach the 40.2 percent GSE share it had last year.