The Federal Housing Finance Agency extended the response deadline on its “request for input” on the credit risk-transfer program. The response period will now close on Oct. 13, 2016, instead of Aug. 29.The FHFA extended it by 45 days because various industry stakeholders said they wanted more time to evaluate the information and questions raised in the RFI. Back in June, the FHFA asked for industry feedback on various aspects of its CRT program. Fannie Mae’s Connecticut Avenue Securities program and Freddie Mac’s Structured Agency Credit Risk program have accounted for the bulk of GSE risk-transfer activity since the program was launched three years ago.
Guaranty fees won’t be going lower anytime soon as the Federal Housing Finance Agency said it has no immediate plans to decrease the current level of fees charged. After more than doubling from 2011 to 2015, rising to 56 basis points, the FHFA said the fees adequately reflected the credit risk of new acquisitions.But industry groups argue the fees prevent qualified borrowers from entering the housing market and are passed on to borrowers in the form of up-front closing costs and/or as part of their monthly payments. Earlier this summer a coalition of housing groups wrote FHFA Director Mel Watt about reducing g-fees.
GSEs Offer Forbearance for Flood-Damaged Homes. With more than 40,000 homes hit by deadly flooding in Louisiana this week, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are offering temporary mortgage suspensions. Fannie Mae said servicers can grant forbearance of up to 90 days to borrowers they believe were impacted by the flood, whether they make contact with them or not. When they make contact, the servicer can offer up to six months of forbearance, which can then be extended with approval. Also, lenders must verify the condition of the property of loans originated and sold to the GSE. Freddie’s policy allows for forbearance and foreclosure suspension up to 12 months. Penalties and late fees against disaster-damaged homes are also waived.
Some 61.0 percent of loans securitized by Ginnie Mae in the first half of 2016 were purchase mortgages, compared to 46.2 percent for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac…
The boom in mortgage originations during the second quarter of 2016 pushed volume higher in all the major product categories, according to a new Inside Mortgage Finance ranking and analysis. The conventional-conforming sector saw the biggest increase in originations, a 36.0 percent jump from the first three months of the year. Lenders produced an estimated $272.0 billion of conventional-conforming mortgages, which represented ... [Includes two data charts]
The Federal Housing Finance Agency again made clear that it has no immediate plans to lower the guaranty fees charged by the two government-sponsored enterprises in conservatorship. Guaranty fees more than doubled from 2011 to 2015, rising to 56 basis points, according to the FHFA’s most recent annual report on g-fees. Moreover, g-fees crept up in the past year, averaging 59 bps in 2015, compared to 57 bps in 2014. But the FHFA believes that slight uptick ...
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