Loan origination data for 2014 that were released last week by federal regulators show that the conventional mortgage market was considerably bigger than previously estimated – and that production levels this year are rising. Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data show that lenders covered by the law’s reporting requirements originated $969 billion of conventional purchase and refinance loans last year. About $232 billion of that amount came in loans exceeding the county-level conforming loan limits in effect for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac last year. The remainder, $737 billion, represents...[Includes two data tables]

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has yet to clarify what it doesn’t like about “marketing service agreements” between originators and Realtors, and the less the agency talks about the topic – publicly, at least – the more lenders fear that eventually the regulator will try to eliminate such agreements altogether. To date, at least two lenders – Wells Fargo and Prospect Mortgage – have announced they are ending their MSAs, but sources indicate that several firms have undergone CFPB audits (or soon will) with a special emphasis on how they manage business referrals with realty companies and how much money changes hands. Inside Mortgage Finance has learned...

It looks like the mortgage industry is on the verge of obtaining another concession from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau regarding enforcement of its pending integrated disclosure rule. The rule will streamline the consumer disclosures required under the Truth in Lending Act and the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act. This TILA/RESPA Integrated Disclosure rule is slated to take effect Oct. 3, 2015, and will create a new regulatory regime – and perhaps a good bit of havoc in the process, at least in the short term. The anxiety over the confusion and expected delays has prompted...

Officials at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Federal Reserve have gone on the offensive to refute claims from lenders and their advocates regarding the ability-to-repay rule. At a hearing this week by the House Financial Services Committee, CFPB Director Richard Cordray noted that he recently met with the CEOs of the top 40 mortgage companies as part of an event hosted by the Mortgage Bankers Association. Cordray said the CEOs revealed that none of the lenders have faced lawsuits alleging violations of standards for qualified mortgages. “All this foaming at the mouth about legal liability did not...[Includes one data table]

A streamlined version of the “Jumpstart GSE Reform Act,” recently reintroduced in Congress, then placed on hold and reintroduced again, could be considered before the end of the year. The bill, sponsored by Sens. Bob Corker, R-TN, Mark Warner, D-VA, and Elizabeth Warren, D-MA, would bar the Treasury from selling its stock in the two government-sponsored enterprises and prevent increases in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac guaranty fees to pay for other government spending. An earlier version of the bill that Corker tried to fast-track through the Senate did not include...

The supply of residential MBS in the market grew tepidly in the second quarter of 2015, but not enough to increase the overall securitization rate for home mortgages. A total of $6.335 trillion of single-family MBS were outstanding at the end of June, a slim 0.1 percent increase from the previous quarter. The supply of MBS has been bouncing slightly higher and lower over the past six quarters, without gaining much traction. With total home mortgage debt outstanding climbing by 0.4 percent during the second quarter, the share of securitized loans fell...[Includes two data tables]

The average daily trading volume for agency MBS fell slightly to $187.6 billion in August from the prior month, the second lowest reading of the year, according to figures compiled by the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association. Lower trading volume indicates that liquidity has been reduced somewhat, but there could be brighter days ahead: the eight-month daily trading average is a bit higher at $200.9 billion and if that figure holds for the rest of the year, it will surpass last’s year’s daily average of $177.9 billion. Then again, $200.9 billion wouldn’t be...

Marketplace lending – otherwise known as peer-to-peer lending – is becoming more of a “thing” for institutional investors, hedge funds, venture capital firms, and even banks these days, but there are plenty of risks lurking in the bushes as well as other operational challenges, according to ratings service analysts. “While marketplace lending has enjoyed increasing growth and acceptance, Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services believes a measured and cautious approach is warranted to properly evaluate this segment, which exhibits unique and heightened risks,” S&P credit analysts Ildiko Szilank and Timothy Bartl wrote in a new report. Among the risks they identified is...

Mortgage origination volume was down sharply in 2014, but not by as much as previously thought, according to an Inside Mortgage Finance analysis of Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data released this week by federal regulators. A total of $1.242 trillion of single-family purchase and refinance loans were originated during 2014, the HMDA data reveal. That was down 29.5 percent from the 2013 HMDA total, although purchase-mortgage lending was up slightly in both the government-insured and conventional markets. HMDA first-lien purchase and refi originations came...[Includes one data table]

The supply of home mortgage debt outstanding started growing again during the second quarter of 2015, thanks to relatively strong growth in retained portfolios, according to an Inside Mortgage Finance analysis of new data from the Federal Reserve and other sources. The Fed reported late last week that $9.901 trillion of single-family mortgage debt was outstanding as of the end of June. That was up 0.4 percent from March and represented the biggest supply of mortgage servicing since the third quarter of 2013. The servicing market had been shrinking...[Includes two data tables]