In 4Q20, Chase and Popular returned to more normal levels while repurchases at Wells remained somewhat elevated...

The great irony: As federally insured banks continued to lose residential lending market share to the Quickens and the Freedom Mortgages of the world, their investment banking units benefitted by arming the competition.

Over the past three quarters, several Ginnie issuer/servicers have turned a nice profit by purchasing delinquent FHA (and to a lesser degree VA) mortgages out of MBS pools, rehabilitating the notes and then repooling them.

The irony: As banks trimmed their holdings, mortgage servicing rights increased in value...

According to FHFA’s own performance and accountability reports, the number of employees at the agency grew from 609 in 2019 to 635 in 2020. More tellingly, FHFA has budgeted for an additional 113 employees in 2021.

If MBS returns go negative, that means lenders will have to hike rates to entice investors. Right? Consequences?

The agencies issued $304.15 billion of new single-family MBS in February — the fifth straight month over the $300 billion mark, a level never seen until August of last year.

Lenders originated an estimated $1.431 trillion of home-purchase loans last year, a solid 13.9% increase from 2019...

What goes up, sometimes comes down.

Wells Fargo was the top jumbo servicer, with $268.73 billion of product at yearend, down 14.2% from the end of 2019.