Gain-on-sale profits came to 124 basis points, flat from the prior period, and the weakest reading of the past five quarters...

Meanwhile, one detail about the capital buffer falling to zero remains unclear: On Jan. 1 will every single penny of the $600 million (at each) be carted away?

A number of Republicans raised concerns last week about the exemption from qualified mortgage standards currently provided to mortgages eligible for sale to the government-sponsored enterprises. Loans must meet a number of standards to receive QM protections, including having a debt-to-income ratio below 43 percent. However, under the ability-to-repay rule from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau that took effect in 2014, mortgages eligible for sale to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac can receive QM status even if they have DTI ratios above 43 percent. The exemption is known as the “GSE patch.”

Ginnie Mae issuers rode a wave of purchase-mortgage lending to deliver $120.46 billion of forward mortgages during the third quarter of 2017, the highest three-month volume for the year, according to a new analysis and ranking by Inside FHA/VA Lending. Third-quarter volume was up 9.6 percent from the April-June cycle. The data excluded FHA reverse mortgages and loan amounts are truncated in Ginnie’s mortgage-backed securities disclosures. Without those limitations, total Ginnie MBS issuance rose 9.5 percent to $123.37 billion in the third quarter. Purchase mortgages were the engine behind the growth. Ginnie issuers securitized $85.35 billion of purchase loans in the third quarter, falling just short of the record $85.41 billion set in the third quarter of last year. Although most Ginnie purchase loans (58.7 percent) were FHA loans, the biggest increase was in such loans guaranteed by the ... [Charts]

Fannie and Freddie saw a 26.7 percent jump in insured first-timer loans…

Total mortgage banking revenue for the period came in at $1.56 billion compared to $1.43 billion in 2Q17...

Fannie and Freddie continue to tweak their systems and processes to accommodate the new mandates, which kick in January 1…

“We estimate that gain-on-sale margins will be roughly flat quarter to quarter,” writes KBW analyst Bose George…

Citi’s third-party servicing portfolio is down to $49.1 billion from $147.6 billion at Sept. 30, 2016...

Private mortgage insurers captured a larger share of the purchase-mortgage market during the third quarter of 2017 as the credit profile of new FHA production tilted toward riskier business, according to a new Inside Mortgage Finance analysis. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac securitized $64.59 billion of purchase loans with private MI coverage during the third quarter, a 28.5 percent jump from the previous period. That was substantially greater than the ... [Includes three data charts]