“Not only will FHA continue to go after the big banks, but they’re going after the mid-sized banks as well,” said Andrew Henscel, whose firm defends originators.

The only spurt of growth in the MBS market was in the non-agency sector, where new issuance was up 36.5 percent from the fourth quarter.

One ad on the radio sounds like The 60 Plus Association is doing the Lord’s work for the pension funds of fire fighters and policemen. After all, public pensions owned GSE stock prior to the crash and lost a bundle.

New single-family business volume at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac continued to decline in early 2014, hitting the lowest quarterly total in 14 years during the first three months of the year, according to a new Inside Mortgage Finance analysis and ranking. The two government-sponsored enterprises issued a total of $129.2 billion of single-family mortgage-backed securities during the first quarter of 2014. That was down 29.1 percent from the already weak production of the fourth quarter and off 63.7 percent from the same period in 2013. The first-quarter 2014 total marked...[Includes two data charts]

Also, new single-family MBS production by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac plummeted 15.6 percent from February to March as the GSEs posted their lowest quarterly production total in 14 years.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s annual “performance goal” scorecard for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac has been issued to the two government-sponsored enterprises for comment and likely will be released by month’s end, according to industry officials briefed on the matter. But as for its contents going forward, that’s a different matter entirely. The 2013 version set forth...

New residential MBS issuance in the first three months of 2014 sank to the lowest quarterly volume since late in 2000, according to a new Inside MBS & ABS analysis. A total of $191.7 billion of residential MBS were issued in the first quarter of this year, down 25.5 percent from the fourth quarter of 2013. Compared to first quarter of 2013, new MBS issuance was down 59.2 percent. MBS production has been falling...[Includes two data charts]

Inside FHFA Lending also found another interesting trend: The top 50 HECM lenders are dominated by nonbanks, some of which are relatively new to the space.

Whatever happened to the sale of Cole Taylor Mortgage, which has been in the works for nine months or so? Good question. When we asked one source close to the deal, his response was this: “Think of the Energizer Bunny but with fairly old batteries.

Origination of FHA-insured reverse mortgages fell in the fourth quarter as borrowing costs increased and loan amounts shrank due to tighter agency rules for these loan products, according to Inside FHA Lending’s analysis of agency data. The FHA reported $15.3 billion Home Equity Conversion Morgages originations for 2013, which was up 20.6 percent from $12.7 billion in 2012. Production, however, fell 12.6 percent quarter over quarter as policy changes designed to stabilize the ailing Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund and help ensure that HECM borrowers can sustain themselves for longer periods of time took effect on Sept. 30. The changes include limiting disbursements at loan closing, or during the initial 12 months after closing, to 60 percent of the initial principal limit. Borrowers who draw more than 60 percent will pay ... [1 chart]