Firms hoping that new guaranty fee and loan-level price adjustments promulgated by the Federal Housing Finance Agency might boost the jumbo MBS market were sorely disappointed when the final details were released by the agency late last week. One executive who works for a real estate investment trust that issues jumbos said it’s clear to him that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are continuing to “misprice” their g-fees. He would love...
Former FHA chief David Stevens said use of the False Claims Act as a “legal sledgehammer will now be tested by one of the highest quality FHA lenders in the nation.”
Most lenders already doing business with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac expect to offer the new low-downpayment options available from the government-sponsored enterprises, though few expect to see much pickup in their originations. A new Fannie survey found 81 percent of lenders intend to offer the 97 percent loan-to-value ratio mortgage sometime this year. About 8 percent said they’re not interested and the rest weren’t sure. But of those planning to offer the product, only ...
Recent actions by the Federal Housing Finance Agency, the government-sponsored enterprises and FHA to make it easier for borrowers to get a mortgage are probably going to be an inconsequential wash overall, according to a panel of industry representatives and policy experts. However, there was some optimism expressed as well. Commenting on last week’s changes from the FHFA on GSE guaranty fees and loan-level price adjustments, Ron Haynie, senior vice president of ...
Mortgage lenders sold a total of $121.87 billion of loans that were originated by mortgage brokers and correspondents to Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae during the first quarter of 2015, according to a new Inside Mortgage Trends analysis of loan-level mortgage-backed securities disclosures by the agencies. Third-party originated volume was up just 1.7 percent from the fourth quarter, while total issuance of agency MBS rose slightly more, by 3.7 percent ... [Includes one data chart]
The news that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac won’t be changing their base guaranty fees and will no longer charge a 25 basis point “adverse market” fee hit late last week when the Federal Housing Finance Agency released its decision on the issue that many have speculated about for weeks.The adverse market fee was eliminated for all loans but loan-level pricing adjustments were raised for certain mortgages. The changes will become effective for all loans purchased by Fannie and Freddie beginning Sept. 1, 2015. The base guaranty fee announcement came as no surprise as most expected there wouldn’t be a change. “The FHFA finds no compelling economic reason to change the general level of fees,” the agency said.
The Federal Housing Finance Agency announced new changes to private mortgage insurer eligibility rules on April 17 and the GSEs said the revisions will play a role in helping to reduce the risk to taxpayers by making sure the MIs are financially and operationally strong. During the financial crisis, some MIs couldn’t fully pay their claims, resulting in losses to the GSEs and taxpayers. The FHFA hopes the revised requirements will help lessen the chances of falling back into the same boat should there be another crisis. United Guaranty, the highest-rated GSE-approved mortgage insurer, said PMIER revisions are “a critical and necessary step that will allow the entire mortgage insurance industry to move forward by incorporating lessons learned during the financial crisis.”