Trade groups continue to rally to prevent the Federal Housing Finance Agency from adding a language-preference question to loan applications. They said the suggestions, designed to assist borrowers with limited English proficiency, require more examination, but they don’t want it to delay implementation of the new Uniform Residential Loan Application.The FHFA extended the deadline for the comment period several times. It closed on Sept. 1. When the input period was extended in August, the FHFA updated the request for input with a presentation that describes the results of testing various language questions on the Uniform Residential...

GSE Conservatorship Hits Nine Year Mark. It’s been nine years since the government placed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in conservatorship on Sept. 6, 2008. No one knew it would last this long. Industry groups, along with some lawmakers, are working hard to put the wheels in motion to come up with a more sustainable solution for the mortgage giants. GSE shareholders group Investors Unite suggested, “If Fannie and Freddie could start retaining their profits and rebuild adequate reserves, the Trump administration could lock in reforms already in place and implement others, creating a federal role in housing finance that protects taxpayers.” GSE Hearing Postponed

The agencies saw an 8.6 percent increase in refi volume from July to August, roughly triple the growth rate of the purchase-money business…

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac appear poised to go ahead with their plans to structure future credit-risk transfer debt offerings as real estate mortgage investment conduits to expand the investor base. “No significant concerns have been raised to date, and, provided that the market continues to respond favorably, we expect to conclude our feedback period soon,” said Fannie. Back in May, the government-sponsored enterprises announced...

Partly to comply with liquidity cover ratio requirements imposed in the wake of the financial crisis, U.S. banks ramped up their holdings of high-quality liquid assets. But once they got compliant, many of them shifted their asset allocations more to agency MBS and U.S. Treasuries, according to researchers at the Federal Reserve. This could have implications for the U.S. central bank’s massive balance sheet over the long haul, they added. As of Jan. 1, 2015, large banks in the U.S. have needed...

Just because consumers might be off the hook for at least 90 days on making their payments, MBS investors will want their money, noted on observer…

Homebuyers are increasingly relying on co-borrowers to help with home purchases...

It appears that 2017 is shaping up to be one of the biggest years for the first-time homebuyer market…

In case you’re wondering the concept of GSE “recap and release” is not under consideration...

Purchase loans accounted for 67.5 percent of the estimated $455.0 billion in first-lien mortgage originations during the April-June cycle...