Although the credit characteristics of Fannie/Freddie purchase mortgages have remained fairly consistent over the year, there were some signs of loosening.

Correspondents are an especially good source of purchase mortgages. During the third quarter, purchase mortgages accounted for over half (50.5 percent) of correspondent-originated loans securitized by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Laurie Goodman, director of the Urban Institute’s housing finance policy center, predicted that the delay in issuance of jumbo MBS will be short.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac securitized $285 billion of single-family mortgages during the third quarter, an almost 16 percent drop from the previous three-month period. As for the outlook for the fourth quarter, the industry is nervous.

Wells Fargo and Bank of America rank first and second, respectively, among bank home equity lenders, according to exclusive rankings from Inside Mortgage Finance.

Every component in the residential MBS market was down from the second quarter, and trending lower on a monthly basis, according to Inside MBS & ABS.

Collateral was much less of an issue in the purchase market, accounting for just 14 percent of conventional denials.

The Federal Reserve continues to be an MBS hog, so much so that it may soon surpass commercial banks as being the top holder of these securities.

Although "legacy" GSE buyback requests are declining, Freddie Mac is paying close attention to more recent production.

If you're looking for another factor in the red hot MSR market, consider this: housing receivables keep shrinking.