The agencies securitized $122 billion of purchase mortgages during the second quarter of this year, a 16.6 percent sequential increase.

A promising surge in purchase-mortgage lending was the key ingredient in the 13.3 percent increase in agency issuance of single-family MBS during the second quarter of 2014, according to a new market analysis and ranking by Inside MBS & ABS. Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae issued a total of $212.23 billion of single-family MBS during the second quarter. That was a nice gain from an exceptionally poor $187.38 billion in production during the first three months, but it still marked the second lowest quarterly volume since the beginning of 2005 – and it fell short of the $213.12 billion produced at the low point in the financial crisis at the end of 2008. The agencies securitized...[Includes two data charts]

The Home Affordable Refinance Program has nearly reached the practical limit of eligible homeowners willing and/or able to refi – whether or not the regulator of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac further tweaks the program’s eligibility requirements, say industry observers. This week, Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Mel Watt met with community leaders in Chicago in a town hall-style meeting to discuss the benefits of HARP. Last fall, the agency launched a nationwide public awareness campaign to reach eligible borrowers and encourage them to participate in HARP, with little apparent success. “We are...

The modest rebound in the housing market during the second quarter of 2014 produced a solid increase in the volume of home loans with private mortgage insurance securitized by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. A new Inside Mortgage Finance analysis and ranking reveals that the two government-sponsored enterprises securitized $37.36 billion of single-family mortgages with private MI coverage during the second quarter. That was up 24.7 percent from the first three months of the year, which had produced a dismal $29.95 billion of MI-insured loans in new GSE mortgage-backed securities. By comparison, total GSE business was...[Includes two data charts]

The Inspector General of the Department of Housing and Urban Development called on the FHA to clean up and update its shared database of federal debtors in default, including FHA borrowers, to ensure the information it holds matches data in the FHA’s default and claims systems. An audit by HUD’s IG found that the Credit Alert Verification Reporting System (CAIVRS), which lenders use to screen delinquent federal debtors from obtaining any more government-backed loans, did not contain default, foreclosure and claims information for more than 260,000 borrowers. As a result, ineligible borrowers were able to obtain new federal loans and loan guarantees. The IG estimates...

The most encouraging sign is that agency volume has been gaining pace. Production increased by 11.4 percent from May to June, with $76.48 billion in gross issuance.

Any respite the mortgage industry had from enforcement actions under the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act is over. If there’s one overarching theme about the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s vigorous RESPA activity of late, it’s that the basics still count when it comes to compliance, even as the bureau pushes the theoretical envelope in some instances, top industry attorneys say. “RESPA Section 8 enforcement is back. It was in abeyance during the transition of RESPA enforcement from the Department of Housing and Urban Development to the CFPB over the last few years,” said attorney Angela Kleine, an associate in the San Francisco office of the Morrison & Foerster law firm. “But the CFPB is picking up where HUD left off, and then some.” Kleine said...

U.S. Bank became the latest casualty in the government’s offensive against lax underwriting and improper origination of FHA mortgages after the bank to pay $200 million to settle all related charges. The Minneapolis-based bank became the seventh FHA lender since 2012 that has entered into settlement agreements with the Department of Justice and the Department of Housing and Urban Development to resolve alleged violation of the False Claims Act and the Financial Institution Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act, according to Inside FHA Lending’s analysis of government data. The government lawsuits allege that the banks’ certification of loans as eligible for FHA insurance under the direct endorsement program violated the FCA. The banks’ misconduct allegedly contributed to the legacy losses that crippled the FHA Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund and placed the ...

It has been barely a month since the FHA deployed its Lender Electronic Assessment Portal (LEAP 3.0), but lenders are already having difficulty executing some functions in the new system. Lenders are complaining about how hard it is to provide access to independent public accountants (IPA) for purposes of recertification functions, as well as difficulties in making changes to existing branches or adding new ones or changing cash flow accounts. Lenders are concerned they may be sanctioned or penalized if they make a mistake, but the FHA seems not inclined to do this because the system is new. “[We] are highly focused on correcting these issues, and hope to have these functions working properly very soon,” the agency promised in a recent note to FHA lenders. The FHA said it is also aware of the complications that some lenders have faced in submitting their annual recertification in LEAP. Many of these problems have been addressed and the deadline for submission of recertification packages has been extended as well, the agency noted.

FHA lenders reported a significant increase in the number of FHA-insured loans originated in April, breaking a downward production spiral that began in the third quarter of last year. Whether this marks a turnaround for the market, however, is uncertain. April closed with $10.3 billion in total FHA originations, up 18.5 percent from March but down 51.7 percent from the same period a year ago. This surge in FHA financing occurred despite the rising costs of obtaining an FHA loans and access-to-credit issues, which have narrowed the gap between FHA and conventional loans with private mortgage insurance. Spring and Fall are the busiest times of year for home sales which might explain the spike, according to real estate agents. FHA fixed-rate mortgages comprised 95 percent of April’s production, with purchase loans accounting for 78 percent of loans originated during the month. FHA lending trends, however, show ... [2 charts]