Among the largest servicers, Ocwen Financial Corp. and RoundPoint Mortgage had the highest overall delinquency rates during the first quarter. However, both firms specialize in “high touch” product.

Melvin Watt, director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, revealed a new strategic plan for the government-sponsored enterprises last week that shifts away from the contraction goal set by previous FHFA Acting Director Ed DeMarco. “I don’t think it’s FHFA’s role to contract the footprint of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac,” Watt said in remarks at the Brookings Institution. “Our role is to maintain an efficient credit market, and as private capital demonstrates that it will come into this market ...

Fannie Mae this week priced its second credit risk-sharing deal of 2014. The $1.6 billion note is the government-sponsored enterprise’s third and largest transaction under its Connecticut Avenue Securities series since the Federal Housing Finance Agency ordered both Fannie and Freddie Mac to shrink the GSEs’ role in the U.S. housing market last year. In its latest offering – Series 2014-C02 – Fannie said it included reference loans with original loan-to-value ratios of up to 97 percent. Previous C-deal offerings included reference loans with up to 80 percent original LTV ratios. “As the market moves from a refinance market to a purchase-money market, it is...

The Federal Housing Finance Agency is soon expected to launch an intense debate on the pricing of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac MBS guaranties that could broaden the credit box and shape how much business the government-sponsored enterprises do. Bob Ryan, a special advisor to the FHFA, said that the agency hopes to come out with its “request for information” on guaranty fees in the near future. During a panel session at the Mortgage Bankers Association Secondary Market Conference in New York City, he said the FHFA has been working closely with the two GSEs on the factors that go into their g-fee calculations. “Folks need...

Although the long-term prospects for the agency MBS market are highly uncertain, the near-term future is wherever Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae take it – and the highly anticipated shift in investor demand as the Federal Reserve eases out of the market. The development of a common securitization platform for Fannie and Freddie will take several years, even after the Federal Housing Finance Agency narrowed the project, said Bob Ryan, a special advisor to the FHFA, during a panel session at this week’s Secondary Market Conference sponsored by the Mortgage Bankers Association. The 2014 plan for the government-sponsored enterprises includes clarifying the scope of the CSP project, which has been in the works for over a year. “We’re not talking...

Although the Federal Housing Finance Agency has backed away from radically reducing the government sponsored enterprises’ role in the mortgage market, some non-agency lenders believe more of the conventional market might be up for grabs if the FHFA overhauls GSE guaranty fees and loan-level pricing adjustments. There isn’t likely to be much market opened up based on loan amount; FHFA Director Mel Watt has ruled out any change in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loan limits. But the FHFA is actively engaging the industry and will be seeking formal comment on guaranty fees and LLPAs. Under current LLPAs, if a borrower has a low FICO score, low downpayment or other “risk factors,” they pay...

House buyers are increasingly using mortgage financing when purchasing homes, according to the latest Campbell/Inside Mortgage Finance HousingPulse Tracking Survey. The shift has been prompted in part by a decline in the investor share of home purchases. Some 69.9 percent of homes purchased in April were completed with non-cash financing, up from a 69.7 percent share the previous month and 68.5 percent in April 2013, based on three-month moving averages. Tom Popik, research director of Campbell Surveys, said...

Housing-finance reform legislation is stalled for the remainder of this year and perhaps throughout the next congress after last week’s majority vote by the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee to approve the bill, say industry observers. The committee voted 13 to 9 to report out a revised version of S. 1217, the Housing Finance Reform and Taxpayer Protection Act, just one vote more than the minimum to advance the bill for floor vote consideration. The committee approval likely marks...

The latest wrinkles in repurchase policies at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are widely seen as incremental changes that at least point in the right direction. The two government-sponsored enterprises last week announced a narrow adjustment in how loans with minor payment problems can still qualify for buyback relief if they are current 36 months after origination. The new framework also provides buyback protection for mortgages that come clean in the GSEs’ quality control checks and an alternative to automatic repurchase of loans when private mortgage insurance is canceled. Only about 2 percent of loans go...

Since that story appeared, we’ve talked to a few mortgage company CEOs who have said – tongue in cheek – that just about every mortgage firm is for sale.