The letter is meant to counteract correspondence sent earlier in the week to Watt from 10 trade organizations and community groups that want the GSEs to build capital...

Two major banks recently launched their own 3 percent downpayment programs, which stakeholders say could shift volume from FHA to the government-sponsored enterprises. How much volume though remains unclear, analysts say. Last week, Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase rolled out their respective low downpayment programs for first-time homebuyers and low-to-moderate-income families, which require only 3 percent down. Neither program involves the FHA, and they appear designed to pick up where Wells and Chase left off when they decided to cut back on their FHA business in order to reduce liability risk. Wells and Chase are among several major banks and nonbanks that have coughed up billions of dollars in settlements with the federal government in the last couple of years to resolve allegations of fraud under the False Claims Act and violations of ...

Although purchase-mortgage lending is expected to pick up considerably in the second and third quarters, the refi market isn’t dead yet.

Refinance lending gained strength in the first quarter of 2016 and surpassed origination of purchase-money mortgages, according to a new Inside Mortgage Finance ranking and analysis. Mortgage lenders originated an estimated $195 billion of refinance loans in the first three months of this year, an 11.4 percent increase over the fourth quarter. With purchase-mortgage production slumping by 11.9 percent to $185 billion, the refi market accounted for 51.3 percent of total originations for the first quarter. Although purchase-mortgage lending is expected to pick up considerably in the second and third quarters, the refi market isn’t...[Includes three data tables]

The banking industry sold $145.3 billion of home mortgages during the first quarter, a 5.1 percent decline from the previous period.

Many cite compliance spending, in particular the hiring of attorneys, for the increase in costs.

Fannie Mae’s Robert Schaefer said there is a “high probability” the mortgage giant will be part of an MI transaction later this year that addresses the “pain points” the GSE sees in the deeper MI concept.

There was a significant increase last year in the number of coordinated examinations of non-bank financial services companies between the CFPB and state banking regulators. The number of such exams rose from nine in 2014 to 16 in 2015, the State Coordinating Committee of the Conference of State Bank Supervisors reported recently in its annual report. Examinations that are scheduled between the SCC and the CFPB are performed simultaneously between state regulators and the CFPB. The examinations involve coordinated planning, shared resources, concurrent onsite visits, and sharing of confidential and non-confidential supervisory information, including findings and reports of exam. The SCC also indicated there was “an expansion into new industry types as the CFPB established additional supervision authority by rule.” ...

The pace of GSE reform has been too slow, said Mortgage Bankers Association President and CEO David Stevens, who’s calling for faster implementation of the Common Securitization Platform and Single-Security. He’s worried that if the CSP platform has not made enough progress, it could face changes in planning down the line. He said the real estate finance industry should continue to push for faster implementation to make sure that any advances made cannot be reversed. “Additionally, the platform should be open to non-agency mortgage-backed securities so that long-term efforts for both private capital and GSE reform can take advantage of the benefits of its efficiency, data and consistency” Stevens added, while speaking...

One of those high-ranking officials is Jim Parrott, former White House housing finance executive...