There is no clear explanation as to why VA rates are lower than the competition, but some industry participants, including Tom Piercy of Incenter Mortgage Advisors, speculate prepayments might be the reason.
Issuance of single-family agency MBS rose 6.9 percent from July to August, according to a new ranking and analysis by Inside MBS & ABS. Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae issued a combined $138.25 billion of single-family MBS last month, their strongest aggregate monthly output since July 2013. Agency production volume has risen for six straight months since bottoming out in February of this year. Although the purchase-mortgage market has gotten most of the attention in recent months, it was...[Includes two data tables]
The new streamlined refinance programs for high loan-to-value loans to be rolled out by government-sponsored enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac next year are good news for market participants in their risk-sharing deals because they cut the risk of borrower default and the associated risk of investor loss, according to a recent report by analysts at Moody’s Investors Service. The programs are designed to provide much needed liquidity to borrowers with high LTV ratios who are current on their mortgage but can’t qualify for a more traditional refi. “The new programs are...
Meanwhile, one mortgage executive told us that earlier in the year Impac approached his shop about a sale. This executive, who did not want his company identified, turned Impac down…