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Inside Mortgage Finance

March 21, 2008

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OFHEO Relaxes GSE Capital Requirements; The Biggest Boost May Be to Political Clout

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac lost a combined $8.68 billion over the last six months of 2007 but events in Washington this week suggest the two government-sponsored enterprises are rapidly rebuilding their political capital even if they don’t turn a... Read More

Democrat Lawmakers Propose Subprime Bailout Plan Using Writedowns and FHA Refinancing

Late last week, Democrats in Congress detailed legislation that could amount to at least a $15 billion bailout of the subprime mortgage market. The bills would require lenders to take “substantial writedowns” then allow FHA to refinance the... Read More

Option One Fetches a Better Price Than Bear Stearns in Financial Market Frenzy

The beginning of the week left mortgage market observers debating which was the biggest surprise: the stunning collapse of investment bank Bear Stearns, or the fact that Option One fetched more on the open market, $1.1 billion, than did Bear, at just $236... Read More

Mortgage Industry Expresses Strong Concerns About Pending Appraisal Deal Agreed to by GSEs

Many players in the mortgage finance industry are concerned about aspects of the “cooperation agreements” Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac entered into recently that likely herald a new era of tougher appraisal standards. The agreements, announced March 3, were part... Read More

Home-Equity Lending Dropped Sharply In Late 2007, Big Challenges Lie Ahead

Like most things in the mortgage market, the home-equity business succumbed to the gravity of rapidly declining housing activity in 2007 but the sector’s biggest challenges may just be starting.Home-equity lending declined by 36 percent... [Includes one chart] Read More

Groups Seek More Time to Analyze HUD’s RESPA Proposal, Compatibility with Fed’s HOEPA Effort

Several real estate industry trade groups have asked the Department of Housing and Urban Development for more time to respond to a newly published, comprehensive proposal for streamlining mortgage settlement procedures under the Real Estate Settlement... Read More

PMI Joins the Chorus, Reports $236 Million Loss On US Mortgage Insurance Business in 4Q07

The PMI Group had to delay its 2007 earnings release because of its stake in a troubled bond insurance business, but the company’s core mortgage insurance operation generally followed the performance trail already outlined by its six competitors. PMI reported a... Read More

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