Total issuance of agency single-family MBS rose a scant 0.6 percent from March to April, according to a new Inside MBS & ABS analysis and ranking. All of the increase came from Ginnie Mae issuance, which rose 16.1 percent from March, hitting $36.30 billion in April. Things were different for the two government-sponsored enterprises: Fannie Mae saw a 3.4 percent decline from the previous month and Freddie Mac volume was down 13.0 percent. Ginnie fared...[Includes two data tables]

Mortgage default rates for FHA and VA loans followed seasonal trends and shifted significantly lower in the first quarter of 2017, according to a new analysis and servicer ranking by Inside FHA/VA Lending. While both portfolios showed strong growth in the dollar volume of loans outstanding in Ginnie Mae mortgage-backed securities, there were also huge declines in the number of loans past due. Some $1.036 trillion of FHA forward mortgages were in Ginnie pools at the end of March, up 1.1 percent from the previous quarter. But delinquency rates for the less-severe categories of late payment were down sharply. The number of FHA loans 30-60 days past due, for example, declined by 28.4 percent, lowering the delinquency rate by 1.51 percentage points, leaving it just about where it was a year ago. The same thing happened in the VA sector. Total VA supply grew 3.2 percent to ... [Charts]

Production of new first-lien home mortgages fizzled in the first quarter of 2017 as the bottom fell out of the refinance market and home sales slumbered, according to a new Inside Mortgage Finance ranking and analysis. An estimated $385.0 billion of new first-lien mortgages were originated in the first three months of the year, a 33.6 percent downturn from the fourth quarter of 2016. It likely did not mark the end of the world, however. For starters, the fourth quarter of last year surprised on the upside – at $580.0 billion, it was the second-highest quarterly volume in the previous four years. And the start of 2017 was...[Includes two data tables]

The Department of Veterans Affairs is seeking comment on a proposal to ease restrictions on the allowable fees and charges military veterans may pay to obtain a VA home loan – a change that could make VA-backed financing more competitive in home purchases. The VA Loan Guaranty Service wants to hear from stakeholders as to how the agency can protect veterans from incurring excessive closing costs without being overly restrictive. Specifically, the VA is considering ways to revise the list of acceptable fees and charges that are impeding VA borrowers’ ability to compete against bidders using other home-purchase financing options that are not restricted by law or regulation. The VA rule on fees and charges has...

A significant drop in the VA refinance market in the first quarter is proof that Ginnie Mae’s anti-churning policy has been effective in curbing serial refinancing of VA loans, according to agency officials at the recent VA Lenders Conference in Kansas City, MO. A hefty 42.7 percent decline in VA refi volume during the first three months of 2017 reflects an apparently successful effort by Ginnie to stop the practice of refinancing VA loans within six months of closing. By comparison, securitization of VA purchase loans fell 17.3 percent from the fourth quarter. John Getchis, senior vice president at Ginnie, said...

There is a new boss in the Ginnie Mae mortgage-backed securities market. PennyMac Financial rose to the top of the issuer ranking in the first quarter of 2017 despite a sharp decline in volume, according to a new analysis and ranking by Inside FHA/VA Lending. PennyMac issued $10.78 billion of single-family Ginnie securities during the first three months of the year. The figures in this analysis are based on Ginnie loan-level disclosures, which truncate loan amounts to $1,000 increments. PennyMac’s first-quarter production was off 27.9 percent from the fourth quarter of 2016, a slightly bigger decline than the 24.8 percent drop in overall Ginnie issuance. Even though the firm fared slightly worse than the total market, its first-quarter downturn was less severe than Wells Fargo’s. Wells has been the top Ginnie producer for a long time, as well as the top player in most segments of the ... [ Charts ]

A steep drop in VA-backed securities issuance in the first quarter of 2017 suggests that Ginnie Mae’s efforts to curb serial refinancing of VA loans are working, according to agency officials. Speaking on a panel at the annual VA Lenders Conference in Kansas City, MO, this week, Ginnie executives said that a change in pooling requirements for streamlined refinance mortgages appears to have curbed a destructive appetite for refinancing new VA loans within six months of closing. The practice has caused faster prepayments in Ginnie mortgage-backed securities pools and smaller payouts to investors. VA refi volume fell 42.7 percent from the previous quarter (see chart on page 2), contributing significantly to the 32.2 percent decline in total VA loan securitization during the period. John Getchis, senior vice president at Ginnie Mae, said he does not think the churning trend will continue because the ...

When it comes to selling Ginnie Mae mortgage servicing rights the past two years, it’s been mostly a bear market, but all that may be changing soon. At least that is what sellers and their merger and acquisition advisors hope. Mark Garland, executive vice president of MountainView Financial Solutions, Denver, said that of late, “We have seen a few Ginnie trades go off at a level closer to full value.” Garland told Inside FHA/VA Lending that he expects this trend to continue with prices tightening over the summer “provided rates hold and [prepayment] speeds stay largely in line with expectations.” And if that happens, there could be an increase in the ability of FHA/VA lenders to securitize excess cash flows. But that’s getting a little ahead of the equation. Over the past 24 months, the Ginnie MSR market has been difficult for two reasons: the fear of lawsuits/sanctions tied to FHA lending, and fast ...

The initial material defect rate on sampled FHA loans targeted for a post-endorsement technical review was down in the fourth quarter of 2016 from the previous quarter, according to the FHA’s latest quarterly loan review update. FHA’s Lending Insight reports the material defect rate prior to curing fell to 49 percent in 4Q16 from 53 percent in the previous quarter, based on an analysis of 5,267 sampled FHA loans endorsed between Oct. 1, 2016, and Dec. 31, 2016. Of the loans sampled, 75 percent were purchase-money mortgages; 10 percent were streamlined refinances; 7 percent rate and term refinances, and 8 percent, Home Equity Conversion Mortgage loans. Twenty percent of the sample, 1,081 loans, were conforming while 25 percent, or 1,313 loans, were found to be defective. About 13 percent of the loans were denied endorsement. On the other hand, approximately 41 percent of loans ...

The Trump White House has yet to fill key positions at the Department of Housing and Urban Development and agencies that fall under the HUD umbrella, including the FHA and Ginnie Mae. According to industry officials who claim to have some knowledge of the process, the administration is seriously considering Pam Patenaude to be the deputy HUD secretary. Patenaude is president of the J. Ronald Terwilliger Foundation for Housing America’s Families. She served as HUD assistant secretary for community, planning and development during the George W. Bush administration. Meanwhile, Michael Bright has been mentioned as a candidate to be the next president of Ginnie Mae. Bright currently serves as director, Center for Financial Markets at the Milken Institute. During his career he has worked for mortgage lender/servicer PennyMac, investment banking firm BlackRock and ...