Prospects for a return of elevated conforming loan limits remain unclear after the Senate approved a reinstatement provision in an appropriations bill in October. Most conservatives in the House remain strongly opposed to the reinstatement – which would likely delay the return of the non-agency market. More than 30 percent of members of the House support a temporary reinstatement of elevated conforming loan limits, according to a letter sent to House leaders this week. ...
Even though the home-purchase mortgage market remains on life support, this important sector of the mortgage industry got a little bit of good news in September – namely, that the share of home purchases involving all cash transactions actually dipped to the lowest level seen in 2011. According to the results from the latest Campbell/Inside Mortgage Finance HousingPulse Tracking Survey, cash transactions accounted for 29.5 percent of home-purchase transactions tracked in September. While that still represented the most popular method for purchasing a home in the U.S., it was...(Includes one data graph)
With home sales slow, house prices still floundering and little lender appetite for cash-out refinancing, the mortgage servicing business may be another year or more away from reversing the historic contraction that’s been underway since early 2008. But a new servicing ranking by Inside Mortgage Finance reveals that some companies have managed to grow their business. Servicing remains a top-heavy industry dominated by three companies that collectively held 47.8 percent of the market as of the end of September. But only one of those firms – second-ranked Wells Fargo – has seen its servicing portfolio...(Includes one data chart)
As the picture of the revised Home Affordable Refinance Program finally came into greater focus this week, MBS analysts indicate that the impact of HARP 2.0 will neither be quite as terrible for MBS investors as feared, nor terribly helpful to the stagnant housing market and the economy at large. The Federal Housing Finance Agency made most of the changes the market expected and steered clear of one that might have boosted HARP business significantly: changing the eligibility cut-off date to give existing HARP borrowers a second crack at the program. The agency agreed to remove the 125 percent loan-to-value cap – although very little...
House Republicans have already introduced a variety of separate bills to clamp down on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac while the two government-sponsored enterprises remain in conservatorship, and a key GOP lawmaker this week introduced legislation intended to jumpstart a private MBS market to take over when the agencies are finally dissolved. The Private Mortgage Market Investment Act, drafted by Rep. Scott Garrett, R-NJ, would create a heavily regulated MBS market made up solely of private entities functioning with no federal guarantee at all. The lawmaker, who chairs the House Financial Services Subcommittee on...
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s total taxpayer cash infusion could top as much as $311 billion by the end of 2014 – a “savings” of some $52 billion from similar projections one year ago, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency.The FHFA this week released its updated projections of the financial performance of the two GSEs, including potential draws under the Senior Preferred Stock Purchase Agreements with the Treasury Department. "The projections have been updated to reflect the current outlook for house prices, interest rates, and recent trends toward borrower behavior,” explained the FHFA.
Mortgage securitization experts have not yet figured out how to preserve the liquidity and consumer benefits provided by the to-be-announced agency MBS market in a mortgage finance system that doesn’t have a role for government agencies. “The failure of the private market has been in figuring out how to encourage a solution with less government,” said Peter Nirulescu, a partner at Capital Market Risk Advisors, during a panel held by the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association this week. Despite panelists’ varying perspectives, all agreed that the TBA market continued to perform robustly and any changes made to the...
Legislative and executive branch policymakers should carefully consider curbing investment portfolios of the Federal Home Loan Banks, say former Bank officials, while a current top Bank official says any such changes in the FHLBanks’ investment authority could undermine the system’s ability to carry out its mission.Since 1990, when Congress broadened the FHLBanks’ previously restricted membership, the pressures for dividends, price competition for advances and increases in required capital levels have significantly increased the “investment” portion of the Banks’ balance sheets, according to former Federal Housing Finance Board Chairman Bruce Morrison.
The Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas has rolled out a new home modification grant program for disabled veterans who were injured in the line of duty during post-Sept. 11, 2001, service.FHLBank of Dallas has allocated $250,000 for its Housing Assistance for Veterans (HAVEN) program effective Oct. 3.HAVEN grants are available through participating FHLB Dallas member institutions to assist individuals in FHLB Dallas's five-state district of Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico and Texas.
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