What the GSEs are worth to the federal government; new MBS disclosures; former Freddie VP resurfaces at the helm of nonprofit.

Lower credit scores lead to both stiffer mortgage rates and higher home insurance premiums, adding to the affordability challenge, according to new finding.

“The risk,” said Mario Ichaso, a trading desk strategist at Wells Fargo, “is that stagflation becomes the common, more dominating view, and mortgage spreads could widen in that situation.”

Since the Iran war started, interest rates have returned to where they were when President Trump directed the GSEs to purchase $200 billion in MBS and most analysts say GSE reform is now off the table.

“The condo insurance requirements will reduce costs for existing homeowners and will make tens of thousands of additional units eligible for lower cost GSE financing,” said Bob Broeksmit, president and CEO of the MBA.

Interest rates on mortgages are back above where they were before President Trump directed the GSEs to buy $200 billion of MBS.

Since the U.S. initiated strikes on Iran, mortgage rates and MBS spreads have given up all the ground they gained from the Trump administration’s directive for the GSEs to purchase $200 billion in agency MBS.

The potential rule change would allow banks to redesignate MBS holdings from held-to-maturity to available-for-sale.

“The process for the data publication is now with the GSEs,” FICO said.

The three major consumer reporting agencies are using discounted pricing and other strategies to drive adoption of VantageScore 4.0 among mortgage lenders. The score is the main competitor to FICO.