At the end of the year, banks and thrifts serviced $5.323 trillion of home mortgages for other investors, giving these MSRs an asset value of $41.43 billion.

Mortgage banking units owned by banks and thrifts generated $1.55 trillion in loan sales during 2012, a 36.9 percent jump from the previous year.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and spending a ton of money each year on outside contractors, including technology firms, attorneys and accountants.

Fannie Mae could be in line to book $60 billion in assets, money that could be counted as net worth and change its immediate financial outlook.

Improving loan quality is sparking a major shake-out in the due diligence sector. Can jumbo production and MBS save the day? Meanwhile, the supply of MBS expanded slightly in the fourth quarter.

Although it expects to report “significant net income” for both the final three months and the full year 2012, Fannie Mae announced late this week that it will delay its earnings release while the GSE’s accountants continue to crunch numbers to determine if the company should take a lucrative but complex tax deduction. In a form 12b-25 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Fannie requested a filing extension beyond its March 18 deadline because it needs more time to analyze its deferred tax assets, which are unused credits and deductions that can be used to cover future tax bills.“The release of the valuation allowance would have a material impact on the company’s 2012 financial statements and result in a significant dividend payment to the U.S. Treasury,” noted Fannie in its SEC filing.

Legislation introduced this week by a bipartisan group of senators would seek to “jumpstart” the stalled effort in Congress to implement legislative reform of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, but industry observers say the measure may also act to hinder cash grabs by government officials when the Treasury Department begins its “sweep” of the GSEs’ profits. The Jumpstart GSE Reform Act – sponsored by Sen. Bob Corker, R-TN, with co-sponsors Sens. Mark Warner, D-VA, David Vitter, R-LA, and Elizabeth Warren, D-MA – would prohibit any increase in Fannie’s and Freddie’s guaranty fee from offsetting other government spending. “The reality is that if Congress were to spend g-fee revenue from the GSEs on other programs, reforming these mortgage behemoths would become nearly impossible,” said Corker.

House Republicans’ proposed budget for next year would see Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac wound down as part of an effort to “end corporate welfare” in the housing sector. The GOP’s 91-page “Path to Prosperity” proposal for Fiscal Year 2014 gives scant mention to the two GSEs – less than two full paragraphs. House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, R-WI, the proposal’s author, seeks to “drastically decrease” Fannie’s and Freddie’s market dominance by gradually ending their government guarantees and taxpayer subsidies.

Outside vendors to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are enjoying the “salad” days of contracting – with promises of more work to come now that the GSEs are actively aiding in the creation of a separate but “outside” single platform to issue mortgage-backed securities. According to a recent Securities and Exchange Commission 10-K filing issued by Freddie Mac, the GSE spent $361 million on “professional services” last year, which is jargon for contract workers and outsourced…