Freddie Mac earned just $227 million in the fourth quarter, blaming the 90 percent sequential decline in profits on derivative losses of $3.4 billion. In a briefing with the media, Freddie CEO Don Layton went out of his way to explain that when interest rates eventually rise, the government-sponsored enterprise could benefit greatly. “I wish that accounting was more tied to economics but it’s not,” he said. Layton stressed...

Freddie Mac actually increased its monthly volume by 7.3 percent from December levels, but Fannie Mae’s production fell 15.6 percent.

Warehouse lending executives interviewed by IMFnews the past week are reporting healthy usage rates from their nonbank clients...

Compass Point hiked its purchase money estimate to $819 billion from $787 billion.

Among originators, Freedom Mortgage ranks 10th. In 2014 it funded $23.63 billion, a 48 percent gain from the year prior.

From 2005 to 2007 homeowners converted an estimated $823 billion of home equity into swimming pools, cars, hospital bills and other uses. Of course, those days are long gone.

Broker-originated purchase mortgages pushed the envelope a little further, with an average credit score of 719.1 and an average DTI of 37.7.

It’s no secret that the securitization market for jumbo loans has been anemic since the housing bust of 2008, but is mortgage insurance a possible panacea? Arch MI recently set up a new subsidiary that will write coverage on jumbo loans as well as portfolio products. In its press statement, Arch said it created Arch Mortgage Guaranty Co. in part to aid lenders that want to securitize. In a recent interview with Inside MBS & ABS, Arch MI President David Gansberg said...

DBRS, which reports its ratings on re-securitizations, actually was involved in more transactions than S&P and ranked second in dollar volume with $6.47 billion.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac issued $57.72 billion of single-family mortgage-backed securities in January, a 7.8 percent decline from the previous month, according to a new Inside The GSEs ranking and analysis.Freddie actually increased its monthly volume by 7.3 percent from December levels, but Fannie production fell 15.6 percent. It’s not unusual for GSE monthly trends to fluctuate; Fannie’s MBS issuance was up sharply in December. Freddie’s production was buoyed slightly by some $199.3 million of modified mortgages that were securitized last month. And it’s not surprising that the flow of purchase mortgages into GSE securities fell 14.4 percent in January, as the housing market hit a seasonal cooling.However, refinance activity was also [includes exclusive charts] ...