The volume of FHA and VA loans securitized in Ginnie Mae pools declined in 2018, according to an Inside FHA/VA Lending analysis of agency data. [Includes one data chart.]

Ginnie Mae issuers produced just $22.84 billion of new mortgage-backed securities in February, the lowest monthly total in nearly five years, according to a new Inside FHA/VA Lending analysis. [Includes two data charts.]

Ginnie Mae saw a modest increase in issuance of single-family mortgage-backed securities in January, according to an Inside FHA/VA Lending analysis of MBS disclosures. [Includes one data chart.]

Ginnie Mae approved far fewer issuers last year than in 2017, according to agency data. Only eight out of 28 applicants were approved to participate in its mortgage-backed securities program, as against 22 issuers in the previous year.

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.

The FHA/VA market continued to lean more heavily on third-party loan producers in 2018, according to a new Inside FHA/VA Lending analysis of Ginnie Mae mortgage-backed securities data. [Includes four data charts.]

Ginnie Mae issuance of single-family mortgage-backed securities fell predictably in the fourth quarter, despite an unexpectedly strong market for refinance loans. [Includes four data charts.]

The FHA’s Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund is generally healthy but for its Home Equity Conversion Mortgage program, according to the latest FHA audit of the MMIF. In its 2018 report to Congress this week, the Department of Housing and Urban Development had good and bad news regarding the financial condition of the insurance fund. The good news is that the economic value of the MMIF, which backs the FHA’s single-family loan programs, increased to $34.7 billion in fiscal 2018 from $26.7 billion a year ago. Total capital resources rose to $49.2 billion from $40.9 billion during the same period. For the fourth consecutive year, the fund exceeded its statutory capital reserve ratio of 2.00 percent. The ratio rose to 2.76 percent in 2018 from 2.18 percent last year. Premium reductions, had they been in effect, would have reduced the fund’s economic net worth and dropped its capital ratio, industry ...

This week, Ginnie Mae issued an all-participants memo dictating new standards for firms seeking to become issuers, including the stipulation that applicants submit to a corporate credit evaluation. Ginnie said the financial exercise will be “similar to those employed by credit rating agencies.” The evaluation will determine whether an applicant is qualified to be an issuer or whether additional criteria should be imposed even if the basic standards are met. Applicants that rely on a subservicer arrangement will be scrutinized even more. The bulletin also notes that, effective immediately, the agency is implementing new notification requirements for MBS issuers engaged in “certain subservicer advance or servicing income agreements, which do not require prior Ginnie Mae approval, but can impact an issuer’s ongoing liquidity position and financial obligations.” While Ginnie currently permits subservicers to advance ...