Government mortgage insurance programs captured most of the primary MI gain in the third quarter.

Some $15.44 billion of refis were pooled into Ginnie MBS in October, a 25.7% jump from the previous month.

Ginnie initially planned on implementing the capital requirements at the end of 2023, along with other reforms.

Sam Valverde, acting president of Ginnie Mae, noted that Ginnie and the Department of Veterans Affairs have policies in place to prevent refis that don’t benefit borrowers and they will continue to watch for “abnormal” refi activity.

“If we had a major economic downturn, I don’t know what kind of havoc we would have right now, because there’s no stability,” said Ted Tozer, a former president of Ginnie Mae.

VA issued a temporary variance to allow borrowers to pay buyer-broker charges so they could compete in the real estate market.

Ginnie Mae Acting President Sam Valverde said loan-level securitization could help liquidity.

Ginnie issuers securitized $15.61 billion of refis through the Department of Veterans Affairs home loan program in the third quarter, a 68.5% increase from the prior period.

Purchase-money mortgages accounted for 82.5% of agency MBS issuance during August, though the refinance share is growing.

FHA accounted for 59.5% of government-insured originations in the second quarter.