Pricing disparity between the GSEs has almost disappeared since single-security efforts began, according to a new paper by the Urban Institute. The authors called the progress on the initiative an “unheralded success” in a paper released this week. In 2012 and 2013, Freddie’s 3, 3.5, and 4 percent coupons traded at more than a $0.30 discount to Fannie Mae’s. That number narrowed to about $0.15 in 2014 and 2015 and by early 2017 it had largely converged, said the UI. “Interestingly, the pricing disparity has all but disappeared since the single-security effort began,” said Laurie Goodman, Jim Parrott and Bing Bai, authors of the study.
The Federal Housing Finance Agency, although late to the game, is proposing new capital requirements for the Federal Home Loan Banks to comply with the Dodd-Frank Act. Other regulators have already implemented the Dodd-Frank Act provisions that shift capital requirements away from ratings. This proposed rule would carry over most of the existing regulation without any major change, but it would revise the credit risk component of the risk-based capital requirement, along with limitations on extensions of unsecured credit. Currently banks calculate credit risk capital charges and unsecured credit limits based on ratings issued by a nationally recognized statistical rating organization. But the proposed rule would require the banks to use their own internal rating methodology.
A host of new GSE tools recently implemented or in the pipeline, including automated appraisals, will improve mortgage underwriting, according to Fitch Ratings. The rating service noted that alternative methods of managing and verifying data are helping Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac change the process for underwriting mortgage loans in the U.S. New approaches to things like appraisal valuation and income verification are giving the GSEs a more efficient way to assess credit risk, while reducing costs for sellers and borrowers, said Fitch. “The appraisal valuation process is evolving primarily due to the introduction of the Uniform Collateral Data Portal through which lenders electronically submit appraisal reports for conventional mortgages delivered to Fannie or Freddie,” said Fitch.
Freddie Mac recently changed the circumstances in which borrowers can use gifts and grants from a lender toward a downpayment in its Home Possible mortgage products. Currently, a lender can provide a gift or grant for a portion of or the entire downpayment, according to a spokesperson for Freddie, but that’s about to change. Last week, sellers were notified that gifts or grants from the lender would only be allowed after the borrower contributes at least 3 percent of the appraised value or purchase price. This contribution must be made from the borrower’s personal funds and/or other permitted sources of funds.
Making credit-risk transfers more attractive to real estate investment trusts by rebranding some of them as real estate mortgage investment conduits may be just what the market needs, according to a new report by Morningstar. The rating service said the change likely won’t have a negative impact on the credit risk and quality of those deals and could help the GSEs broaden their investor base. The proposed changes to Fannie Mae’s Connecticut Avenue Securities and Freddie Mac’s Structured Agency Credit Risk programs would allow REITs and some overseas investors to participate more broadly in the programs.
GSE shareholders are continuing to argue that the structure of the Federal Housing Finance Agency is unconstitutional. The topic has come up ever since a 2016 ruling found that the similarly structured Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is not constitutional. Two new cases filed within the past month in Michigan and Minnesota are asking the courts to vacate the Treasury sweep of GSE profits altogether. In late June, three GSE shareholders filed a fresh lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota. The three plaintiffs, Atif Bhatti, Tyler Whitney and Michael Carmody, also want the court to strike the...
NV Supreme Court Favors GSEs in HOA Litigation. In Nationstar Mortgage, LLC v. SFR Investments Pool, the court found that mortgage servicers have standing to assert, on behalf of the GSE investor, that the Housing and Economic Recovery Act preempts state law and prevents extinguishment of the GSE loan at a Homeowners Association foreclosure sale. Freddie Prices $1.1 Billion Multifamily K-Deal. This week, Freddie Mac announced that it recently priced a new offering of Structured Pass-Through Certificates (K Certificates). The company expects to issue approximately $1.1 billion in K Certificates, which are expected to settle on or about July 24, 2017. Fannie Updates DU with New HomeReady Income Limits. As of July...
JPM reported mortgage banking income of $1.43 billion in the second quarter, off $103 million from the first quarter and down $495 million compared to 2Q16.
Federal Housing Finance Agency lawsuits over pre-crisis non-agency MBS are winding down with one of the last holdouts, Royal Bank of Scotland, reaching a settlement this week for $5.5 billion. In 2011, the agency filed charges against 18 issuers and underwriters alleging securities law violations and fraud regarding non-agency MBS sold to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. JP Morgan Chase settled for $4.0 billion, Deutsche Bank for $1.9 billion and Goldman Sachs for $1.2 billion. Most of the cases were settled in 2013 and 2014. The two government-sponsored enterprises purchased...
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