Lenders financed $11.9 billion of conforming-jumbo mortgages – loans greater than $417,000 – through Fannie, Freddie and the FHA during the second quarter.

Non-agency jumbo mortgage originations accounted for a historically high 19.4 percent of new lending during the first half of 2014, and the sector is steadily gaining ground, according to a new Inside Mortgage Finance analysis of big-ticket mortgage activity. During the second quarter of 2014, lenders originated an estimated $59.0 billion of mortgage loans that were too big to be financed through Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac or the FHA. That was up 34.1 percent from the first quarter, a noticeably bigger increase than the 25.5 percent jump in total mortgage originations for the period. Compared to last year, jumbo lending was...[Includes three data charts]

The Federal Housing Finance Agency should abandon its proposed increase in guaranty fees charged by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, according to a number of industry groups. The Mortgage Bankers Association said in a comment letter that it opposes hikes in g-fees and loan-level price adjustments, noting that g-fees have become attractive to Congress as cash cow means for funding non-housing programs. “Clearly, the GSEs were undercapitalized...

The Federal Housing Finance Agency appears to be all alone – for now – in its effort to prevent nonbanks from gaining access to the Federal Home Loan Bank system by using a captive insurance affiliate. The proposal would also change FHLBank membership rules for depository institutions. But already the proposed ban – issued for a 60-day comment period early last week – is coming under heavy fire from different factions of the mortgage industry, including the Council of Federal Home Loan Banks, real estate investment trusts and private-equity firms that own REIT stock. David Jeffers, executive vice president for the Council, said “widespread calls” for the comment period to be extended are...

Concern about government-proposed capital rules for private mortgage insurers and their potentially negative effect on MI premiums has prompted loan guarantors and others to call for changes. The Mortgage Bankers Association, National Association of Realtors and several private MI companies have urged the Federal Housing Finance Agency to ease proposed capital requirements for private MIs. As written, the proposed rules could cause MI premiums to spike, making it more difficult for first-time homebuyers to purchase a home and for MIs to maintain market share, they warned. The draft Private Mortgage Insurer Eligibility Requirements (PMIERs) is...

Federal regulators should craft capital requirements for nonbank mortgage companies that emphasize areas of risk that demand adequate capital and profitability, such as lending and mortgage securitization, instead of areas that are more connected with operational efficiency and compliance, such as loan servicing, according to the Kroll Bond Rating Agency. The Federal Housing Finance Agency is trying to determine how much capital a nonbank mortgage company involved in lending, securitization and/or servicing needs in order to minimize the potential risk to the government-sponsored enterprises, while Ginnie Mae is researching the risk posed by nonbank issuers. “How much capital does a nonbank seller/servicer need...

Altisource Portfolio Solutions has rolled out a new operating platform for brokers, table funders and third-party vendors.

Although the Federal Reserve has tapered its agency MBS purchases significantly, the central bank continued to grow its holdings during the second quarter.

The advisory firm based its findings on the operating results of 37 independent mortgage banking companies across the U.S.

A number of banks have been motivated to reduce their MSR holdings because of concentration limits imposed by the emerging Basel risk capital rules.