Many low-income and minority borrowers are forced into FHA loans by risk-based pricing and overlays in the conventional market, only to be stymied by higher FHA premiums and non-cancellable mortgage insurance premiums, according to a new study from the Center for Responsible Lending. The study, “Repairing a Two-Tiered System: The Crucial but Complex Role of FHA,” examines FHA’s pre- and post-crisis lending to white and minority borrowers. It also evaluates the impact of risk-based and FHA pricing as well as the impact of False Claims Act enforcement, which have limited the FHA program’s effectiveness in meeting homeownership goals, said authors Peter Smith, CRL senior researcher, and Melissa Stegman, senior policy counsel. The authors used Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data from 2004 through 2016, focusing solely on single-family purchase mortgages made to ...

Actions by a number of private mortgage insurers to cut borrower-paid premium rates would enhance affordability and enable private MIs to increase their market share at FHA’s expense, according to an analysis from the Urban Institute. So far, Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corp., Genworth Mortgage Insurance and Radian Guaranty have announced reductions in their respective monthly and single-premium borrower-paid premium rates. The premium cuts will affect more than just affordability, said UI. On March 6, the company announced that it is reducing borrower-paid single-premium rates in most FICO buckets, effective for all MI applications received on or after March 19, 2018. The Philadelphia-based MI also reminded clients that previously announced single-premium restrictions on debt-to-income ratios exceeding 45 percent and a FICO score below 700, or DTI exceeding ...

If past is prologue, Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Mel Watt might be on the job a lot longer than Jan. 6, 2019, which is when his five-year term expires. That is, if he wants to stay.

Chimera CIO Mohit Marria: “The thirst for yield from the investor base remains strong.”

The NAR is hoping that a cut in g-fees (and LLPAs) ultimately will be passed down to consumers – who buy homes from NAR’s members.

Freddie Mac had the biggest monthly increase at 22.9 percent…

Freddie CEO Donald Layton told Inside MBS & ABS that implementation of the FHFA directive “has largely been complete.”

Compared to March 2017, the combined nonbank servicing business was up 14.7 percent, while banks in the top 50 saw a 2.4 percent decline from a year ago.

Come June, Fannie Mae will cut a new dividend check to Uncle Sam...

Great Ajax’s forte is buying re-performing mortgages…