Total primary mortgage insurance coverage provided by private MIs fell 6.5 percent to $50.44 billion in the first quarter, a figure that includes HARP loans.

Will Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac be "even" with the U.S. Treasury by yearend? Also: PennyMac Financial Services goes public.

The GSE "common securitization platform" is under construction and already potential add-ons are being discussed, including a loan acquisition module.

The game is on: MBA wants a single GSE security and will lobby aggressively on the issue.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac securitized a total of $27 billion of mortgages with LTV ratios north of 105 percent, most of which did not have insurance.

In the first quarter nonbanks continued to gain significant market share in the residential servicing business, according to a new and exclusive ranking from Inside Mortgage Finance.

When it comes to sales of retail-originated loans with private mortgage insurance, Quicken Loans is the new king of the market, according to exclusive figures compiled by Inside Mortgage Finance.

Banks are still making nice profits off their residential lending and servicing businesses, but 4Q12 may turn out to be a peak in the cycle.

The commercial MBS market is starting to catch fire. Moreover, a new report from Fitch notes that commercial delinquencies continued to fall last year, a trend that will continue.

Home lenders funded $500 billion worth of new mortgages in the first quarter, a strong showing, but down 5 percent from the fourth quarter. Quicken Loans had the strongest growth rate among the top 10.