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Inside Mortgage Finance

January 19, 2017

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The Beat Goes On. Banks Backpedal from Agency Servicing Market in 4Q16, Especially Ginnie Sector

The evolution of the agency mortgage-servicing market isn’t over, though it appears to have settled into a long-term transition by attrition. At the end of 2016, depository institutions serviced some $3.584 trillion of single-family home loans committed to mortgage-backed securities guaranteed by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae. That was down 1.0 percent from September, a period during which the supply of agency MBS debt outstanding was growing. The depository share of agency MBS servicing fell...[Includes two data tables] Read More

Trump Administration Expected to Freeze Cut in FHA Mortgage Insurance Premiums

The Trump administration is expected to put a temporary freeze on the 25 basis point cut in FHA annual premiums that is scheduled to take effect Jan. 27. One industry source noted: “On Jan. 20, President Trump will be issuing an executive order that freezes all past actions over a certain period of time. The FHA premium reduction gets swept into this.” Sources told... Read More

A Mixed Quarter for the Banks: Decent Production, Sweet MSR Marks but Unclear Road Ahead

The nation’s largest banks revealed better-than-expected residential origination figures (for some) and mouth-watering markups on the value of their servicing portfolios. That’s the good news. But it wasn’t all wine and roses. On the servicing front, BOK Financial revealed that fourth quarter income was reduced by $17.4 million because it left servicing-related hedges on the books for too long, betting that rates would stay low for an extended period of time. PNC Bank saw...[Includes one data table] Read More

Trump Eyes Neugebauer to Replace CFPB’s Cordray, Legal Experts Divided as to Extent of His Authority

What once seemed like an idle speculation – the potential ouster of Richard Cordray as director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau – suddenly looks more likely. Last week, President-elect Donald Trump met with Randy Neugebauer, the former Texas Republican member of the House Financial Services Committee, who is under consideration as a replacement for Cordray, according to multiple press accounts. Neugebauer reportedly has not been offered the job, as of press time, nor have other candidates been considered for the position. “I heard... Read More

PHH Corp. Convinces Appeals Court to Let It Respond to Government’s Brief in CFPB Dispute

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit last week gave PHH Corp. the green light to weigh in on the legal arguments the Justice Department made late last year in support of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s petition for an en banc rehearing of its dispute with the lender. The appeals court did so over the objections of the CFPB, and with 11 of the 12 judges in agreement and one not participating. PHH had argued that it ought to be able to respond to the second of two government arguments in favor of the review. Privately, some industry insiders thought... Read More

Trump’s Plans for Corporate Tax Reduction Could Prompt Treasury Draw by GSEs and Spur GSE Reform Activity

Legislative reform of the government-sponsored enterprises doesn’t appear to be a high priority for Republican lawmakers, but President-elect Donald Trump’s plans to reduce the corporate tax rate could inadvertently prompt some GSE reform activity, according to industry analysts. As of the end of the third quarter of 2016, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac had a combined $53.80 billion in deferred tax assets. The DTAs result from differences between the carrying amounts of existing assets and liabilities under generally accepted accounting principles and their respective tax bases. The DTAs are... Read More

First-Time Homebuyers in the Market Contributing to Growing Number of Terminated Closings, says Trulia

The number of “sold” homes failing to seal the deal come closing time is growing. A new report from Trulia shows that the “sales fail” rate has jumped from 2.1 percent in 2015 to 3.9 percent in 2016. Trulia noted that there was an even bigger jump in incomplete sales in the past two years. Of all listed properties in the fourth quarter of 2014, only 1.4 percent did not reach the closing table. But in the fourth quarter of 2016, the number of failed sales catapulted to 4.3 percent. The reasons those sales are falling through the cracks range... Read More

Fannie and Freddie are About to Provide a Revenue Gift to the Trump Administration

Thanks to stellar fourth quarter MBS issuance – coupled with higher interest rates at Dec. 31 – Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are likely to report their best quarterly earnings of 2016, money that will go directly into the U.S. Treasury. According to interviews conducted by Inside Mortgage Finance this week, the general consensus among observers is that the two government-sponsored enterprises will post a combined profit north of $5.5 billion. In 2016, the two guaranteed... Read More

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