Just over $224 billion of mortgages to first-time homebuyers were included in agency MBS issued in 2014, according to figures compiled by IMF.

First-time homebuyers accounted for close to half of all purchase mortgages in the agency market in 2014, according to a new ranking and analysis by Inside Mortgage Finance. Activity in the sector is also projected to increase, helped by low interest rates, a reduction in FHA premium and the government-sponsored enterprises’ low-downpayment programs. Some $224.35 billion in mortgages to first-time homebuyers were included in agency mortgage-backed securities issued in 2014. The loans accounted for 43.3 percent of all purchase mortgages included in agency MBS during the year. Wells Fargo had...[Includes two data charts]

Roughly 5 percent of Citadel's production is retail with correspondent accounting for 7 percent. The balance entails table funding.

Still, the four super-sized U.S. banks – those with more than $1 trillion in assets – continue to rank in the top five GSE sellers.

Meanwhile, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac continued to get less of their business from their five biggest customers.

Two of the four, Chase and BofA, reported increased originations during the fourth quarter. At Chase, production was up 8.5 percent...

At press time, the yield on the 10-year Treasury was at 1.80 percent, the lowest level since May 2013.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac had a stellar year for their risk-sharing transactions in 2014, selling off portions of the credit risk associated with $369.7 billion of MBS, greater than four times the $84.7 billion amount seen in the prior year, according to Fitch Ratings. Meanwhile, “performance of the transactions remains exceptionally clean,” analysts at Fitch said in a new report this week. The performance seen in 2013 was based...

The U.S. Supreme Court this week denied a petition by major banks to reject a lower court decision to allow a National Credit Union Administration MBS lawsuit to go forward. The SCOTUS chose not to hear the case, a lawsuit filed by the NCUA to recover damages suffered by five now-defunct federal credit unions as a result of investments in non-agency MBS sold by the banks. The suit is...

The Federal Housing Finance Agency will unveil nonbank capital guidelines for servicers by mid-year. Also on the docket: Changes to loan level price adjustments..