Industry representatives are urging the Department of Veterans Affairs to delay an interim final rule on VA cash-out refinance loans for fear that lenders may stop offering the product.
Government-backed originations fell significantly in the fourth quarter of 2018 due to a decline in purchase lending even as year-over-year results reflected the uncertainty in last year’s government-backed mortgage market. [Includes three data charts.]
Conventional and VA-backed home mortgages are the most common type of mortgage products that servicemembers complained about to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, according to the agency’s latest analysis.
The real estate industry is calling for the immediate release of the long-overdue final FHA condominium rules to enable more projects to qualify for FHA-insured financing.
The recent government shutdown had a minimal impact on mortgage lending activity partly due to its timing. The 35-day shutdown, which began on Dec. 22, coincided with the holiday season, which is typically a slow time for the housing market.
Ginnie Mae’s plan to reduce the number of small issuers of mortgage-backed securities could increase the agency’s risk and make it harder for those issuers to remain in the program, warned the Community Home Lenders Association.
Ginnie Mae this week barred loanDepot from securitizing VA loans in Ginnie Mae I and multi-issuer pools as part of its efforts to curb loan churning and rapid prepayments.
An outline for housing finance reform released late this week by Senate Banking Committee Chair Mike Crapo, R-ID, looks a lot like the last gasp reform proposal released in 2018 by Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-TX, the now retired chair of the House Financial Services Committee. Among other things, the proposal puts Ginnie Mae firmly in control of the government guarantee business.
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