After years of lobbying by the mortgage industry, Congress gave Ginnie Mae’s budget a boost for fiscal year 2024.

Prepayments on VA loans in Ginnie MBS jumped in February and will likely remain elevated in March. It’s a recurrence of an ongoing problem for Ginnie and VA: streamlined refinance business.

Banks, the largest holders of agency MBS among investor groups, aren’t expected to be big buyers this year. Money managers helped to fill the void left by banks last year, but that might not continue into 2024.

Ginnie Mae last week announced revisions to its issuer eligibility requirements to participate in its manufactured housing MBS program.

Issuance of GSE Supers MBS remained elevated in the fourth quarter, although down significantly from the previous period. Ginnie remains king of the agency REMIC market. (Includes two data tables.)

Panel discussions at the summit covered Ginnie’s digital collateral, social impact investing and manufactured housing, among other topics.

Most categories of loan withdrawals from Ginnie MBS pools saw declining activity in the fourth quarter. But repurchases of delinquent loans, especially FHA, were up. (Includes two data tables.)

Barbara Cooper-Jones, Ginnie Mae’s soon-to-be-retiring tech senior vice present, expresses concerns surrounding staffing and funding at the agency.

Changes to the Ginnie Mae program were included among 35 priority recommendations for fiscal 2024 from the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Office of Inspector General.

Securitization rates increased for GSE-eligible loans, government-insured mortgages and non-agency mortgages. While bank demand for jumbos is declining, the vast majority of the loans don’t go into MBS. (Includes data table.)