According to a new tally from Inside Mortgage Finance, refis accounted for 47.6% of first-lien originations in 3Q19 compared to 35.9% and 35.2% in the second and first quarters, respectively.

If Fannie and Freddie are in fact released from conservatorship will they quickly rebuild their lobbying shops?

In case you haven’t noticed, the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury was at 1.86% as IMFnews went to press compared to 1.46% in early September. That’s a difference of 40 basis points…

Purchase-loan activity increased significantly and continued to account for most agency business.

Freddie CEO David Brickman: “The ability to absorb that risk is largely a function of how much capital you’ve got, and we have very little.”

The FHFA declined to single out which GSE it was talking about...

It might be easier to sell stock in a reconstituted Fannie and Freddie after the old companies are wiped out through receivership and “new” entities are created. FHFA has the power to sell the charters but not the legal authority to issue new charters.

It appears that Fannie’s risk transfers are slowing. The GSE issued only one Connecticut Avenue Securities deal in the third quarter…

Genworth’s sale to China Oceanwide Holdings is still pending. The deal was struck back in 2016. So what’s the hold up? The short answer: Selling anything to China is complicated these days...

The combined portfolio of the top five servicers actually declined slightly during the third quarter. Megabanks Wells Fargo, Chase and Bank of America shed a combined $26.8 billion during the third quarter, with $20.0 billion of that taking place at Wells. Mr. Cooper Group, the largest nonbank servicer, reported a slight $2.5 billion drop, although its subservicing portfolio grew 2.8% to $310.5 billion.