When panic first set in over the economic impact of COVID-19, investors sold off historically large volumes of MBS and Treasuries. As a result, liquidity and pricing efficiency both took a beating. It was the Fed’s gluttonous appetite for these securities that brought markets off the cliff.

K-deals totaling more than $2 billion hit market.

Some industry players believe FHFA Director Mark Calabria wants to use an activities-based review of the market to reduce regulations, which many observers think increase the cost of mortgages.

In its S-1 filing, Quicken (not surprisingly) said it’s powerless to modify the rules that govern its relationship with the GSEs.

Freddie Mac returned to market in July with a $425 million ACIS deal and $1.1 billion STACR, leading GSE watchers to conclude the CRT market has returned from the dead. Others are not so sure.

To promote the fungibility of the uniform MBS, Fannie and Freddie will more closely align how they evaluate their seller/servicers.

While total GSE MBS issuance rose 10.3% from April to May, many of the top sellers recorded declines in monthly loan sales. But scores of lower-tier sellers more than made up the difference. (Includes two data charts.)

After Sept. 15, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will no longer accept LIBOR loan applications. Moreover, the FHFA and the GSEs expect all loan purchases linked to the London benchmark to cease by yearend.

Over the past two weeks, Freddie Mac has priced three separate multifamily securitizations worth a combined $1.6 billion.

If the FHFA’s assessment is correct, mortgage servicers can withstand a substantially deeper economic downturn than originally thought.