The share price of certain mortgage stocks took it on the chin in 2014, caught in all the negative publicity surrounding Ocwen Financial and nonbank mortgage companies. According to an analysis by Inside Mortgage Finance of a select group of nonbank lender/servicers, Ocwen’s stock suffered the largest decline in 2014 as measured by current price to its 52-week high. Based on prices this week, Ocwen’s common is trading at a 76 percent discount to its high for the past 12 months. Ranking second in this ignoble category is...[Includes one data chart]

Ocwen Financial’s massive exit from the agency servicing market is expected to be a multi-year phase-out complicated by its past regulatory problems and a weak market for legacy product, according to industry advisors. If the company follows through on its promise to exit all segments of the agency market – Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae – it will wind up selling a hefty $182.51 billion of residential mortgage servicing rights, based on third quarter survey numbers submitted to Inside Mortgage Finance. At Sept. 30, the nonbank serviced...

Lowering premiums now would only put the FHA MMIF further behind, the House Financial Services Committee chairman argued.

HUD Secretary Castro said the MMIF is on a “positive trajectory,” though he admits the premium reduction could delay its recovery...

Of course, we’re waiting to see what Republicans on Capitol Hill think of a cut in FHA premiums…

The National Association of Realtors recently estimated that in 2014, nearly 234,000 creditworthy borrowers were priced out of the housing market because of high FHA insurance premiums.

“Auctions would determine the market prices of those guarantees and allocate them to the lenders who most valued them,” the CBO said.

Elsewhere, Batkins projects compliance with all of the CFPB's 2014 regulations to cost the financial services industry $2.1 billion.

Potential actions by regulators also give non-agency MBS investors cause for concern.

MBA's Stevens believes that making a change in the PSPAs would not go over very well in a Republican-controlled House and Senate.