Ginnie Mae issuance of government-insured mortgage-backed securities rose a whopping 47.3 percent in the second quarter of 2015 from the previous quarter, powered by a robust FHA refinancing volume, according to an Inside FHA/VA Lending analysis of agency data. Government-backed Ginnie MBS production in the second quarter totaled $117.5 billion, up from $79.8 billion in the prior quarter. Volume year-to-date also increased by 57.7 percent from the first six months of last year. From May to June, government-backed securitization increased a modest 2.9 percent. FHA loans comprised 62.6 percent of Ginnie MBS issuance in the second quarter while VA accounted for 33.7 percent. Securitized loans with a Rural Housing Service guaranty represented 3.6 percent of total Ginnie MBS issuance during the period. FHA loan securitization was robust in the second quarter, as volume ... [ Charts ]

Industry experts are sharply divided on whether the FHA’s financial condition is actually getting better or worse. Potomac Partners, a business consultancy group, is optimistic that the FHA’s Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund has finally turned a corner with great signs of improvement in the first quarter of 2015. Changes and adjustments made by the Department of Housing and Urban Development since last year have placed the MMI Fund on a positive trajectory to reach its required 2.0 percent capital ratio in 2016. Last year, the fund’s capital ratio improved from a negative 0.11 percent to a positive 0.41 percent and its economic value appears to be improving. Potomac Partners’ analysis looked at FHA risk, loan performance, delinquency rates, debt-to-income ratios, loan-to-value ratios, originations and claims, loss rates as well the effect of the ...

Residential MBS production continued to gain speed in the second quarter of 2015 while non-mortgage securitization remained strong, according to a new Inside MBS & ABS analysis. A total of $419.42 billion of single-family MBS and non-mortgage ABS were issued during the second quarter, an increase of 21.2 percent from the first three months of the year. It was the strongest new issuance total since the third quarter of 2013 and marked the fifth straight quarterly increase since the market hit a cyclical low at the beginning of last year. Most of the gain came from the agency MBS sector, which totaled $352.73 billion in new issuance, a gain of 29.7 percent from the first quarter. All three agencies posted hefty gains, with the biggest coming at Ginnie Mae, where new issuance jumped 46.7 percent to hit $120.36 billion. A lot of Ginnie’s growth is coming from an unusual surge of refinance activity, which accounted for ... [ charts]

The frequently-asked-questions guidance to using the FHA’s consolidated Single Family Policy Handbook is good to have though it shows just how complicated the FHA’s mortgage origination process is, according to lenders. In fact, the updated FHA handbook could still be confusing to borrowers simply because a lot more information is concentrated in one source, lenders said. According to the FHA, the more than 290 FAQs will enable lenders to make operation adjustments before the handbook goes into effect on Sept. 14, 2015. The FAQs are for information purposes only and do not apply to current FHA policies. They do not establish or modify policy contained in the handbook. The FAQs reiterate information in the handbook under headings such as Credit Underwriting, Closing and Insuring, FHA System Support and Consumer Information. Industry observers noted that the FAQs did not ...

Consumer education and community outreach by lenders have kept VA originations on an upward trend in the first quarter of 2015, according to Inside FHA/VA lenders ended the first quarter with $36.5 billion in total originations, a 5.8 percent increase from the fourth quarter of 2014 and up a whopping 86.0 percent from the same period last year. Purchase loans comprised 61.5 percent of VA loans produced during the quarter while streamlined refinance loans accounted for the rest. Seventeen lenders, including two of the top five VA producers, focused a significant portion of their first-quarter activities on refinancing. The rest either led with their purchase business or had a balanced mixof purchase and refi loans. Top-ranked Freedom Mortgage’s total originations were 90.5 percent refis, which officials attributed to lower interest rates and a robust team of ... [1 chart].

The VA maintained a sizeable lead in first-lien mortgage refinancing over FHA and private mortgage insurers in the first quarter of 2015 but yielded to both in purchase originations during the same period. According to the Inside Mortgage Finance database, mortgage lenders originated approximately $221.0 billion of refi loans in the first quarter, a 51.4 percent increase from a revised fourth-quarter production estimate of $146.0 billion. Of first-quarter mortgages securitized by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae, refi loans comprised 61.4 percent, up sharply from 37.6 percent for all of 2014. VA streamline refis accounted for $20.4 billion while FHA refis made up $12.2 billion of refis pooled in agency mortgage-backed securities. FHA’s refi production jumped 57.8 percent in the first quarter. On the other hand, refi loans with private MI accounted for $14.2 billion produced during the ...

First Tennessee Bank’s agreement with federal agencies to pay $212.5 million to resolve allegations of violation of the False Claims Act is the latest proof of the government’s unrelenting pursuit of FHA lenders over underwriting and quality control issues. The settlement once again demonstrates the federal government’s commitment to combat FHA fraud using the FCA to recover taxpayer losses, according to an analysis by Boston law firm Greene LLP. “[The Department of Housing and Urban Development] made a point of saying that this behavior is exactly what led to the financial crisis and housing market downturn,” Greene’s compliance attorneys said. HUD and the Department of Justice have vowed to continue to pursue and hold accountable lenders who put profits ahead of their customers and legal obligations, the attorneys added. According to the DOJ, First Tennessee, a regional bank, admitted ...

Total originations of reverse mortgages with FHA insurance increased in the first three months of 2015, according to an Inside FHA/VA Lending analysis of agency data. Home Equity Conversion Mortgage production, overall, rose 3.0 percent to $3.9 billion from the fourth quarter of 2014 and was down 2.0 percent on a year-over-year basis. HECM purchase loans far outpaced refinances, which accounted for only 14.5 percent of total HECM volume in the first quarter. Lenders reported a total of $2.3 billion in initial HECM principal amount at loan origination. Meanwhile, there is continued investor interest in HECM mortgage-backed securities (HMBS), according to Ginnie Mae. The unpaid principal balance of HMBS climbed to $48.9 billion in FY 2014 and the number of participations (the funded portions of HECM loans that have been securitized) has increased to 6,585, 856. HMBS issuance was ... [1 chart]

The National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association is seeking guidance from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on how to design reverse mortgage advertisements without triggering regulatory scrutiny. Peter Bell, NRMLA president and chief executive, said he had sent a Freedom of Information Act request seeking access to the particular ads that the CFPB sought comment on in a recent study on reverse mortgage advertisements. The study found that consumers who viewed the ads were left with misimpressions about reverse mortgages. For example, consumers were confused about reverse mortgages being loans. Some thought that home-equity conversion mortgages are a “government benefit” or that they could ensure that homeowners could stay in their homes for the rest of their lives. Others complained of difficulty reading the fine print and that ...

Security issuances backed by VA loans totaled $35.5 billion in the first quarter of 2015, with VA streamline refinance loans accounting for 57.7 percent, according to an Inside FHA/VA Lending analysis of Ginnie Mae data. Approximately $20.5 billion in VA interest rate reduction refinancing loans were securitized during the first three months as borrowers took advantage of lower interest rates.“For the last three to four months, rates have been bottoming out again, and if rates are lower it makes sense to refinance,” said Jon Shrum, vice president of Commerce Home Mortgage, a VA-certified lender in Huntington Beach, CA. An estimated $14.5 billion in VA purchase mortgages also were securitized during period. VA loans comprised 13.1 percent of all loans in Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae mortgage-backed securities. California, Virginia, Texas, Florida and Washington, ... [2 charts]