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Inside Mortgage Finance

April 18, 2008

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Lenders Slow to Roll Out ‘Conforming Jumbo’ Pricing While FHA’s Program Poses Obstacles for Borrowers

Two months after the establishment of conforming jumbo loan limits, mortgage lenders are slowly starting to gear up for new programs that are slated – for the time being at least – to last only until the end of this year. Lenders have not yet delivered any... Read More

Private Conduit Market Bottomed Out In Early 2008 as Liquidity Disappears

There is almost nowhere for the private mortgage conduit business to go but up after the market hit a historic low in the first quarter of 2008. According to the Inside Mortgage Finance MBS Database, a mere $7.73 billion of new non-agency MBS... [Includes two charts] Read More

GSE Regulator Sees Plenty of Problems at Freddie; Fannie on More Solid Ground

Nearly six years after it first disclosed major problems in its accounting and management systems, Freddie Mac continues to struggle to right its ship in an increasingly hostile market environment, according to a stern annual report card from the Office of... Read More

Mortgage, Securities Industry Reps Warn Against Legislative Interference With Loan Modifications

With political pressure mounting for mortgage lenders to do more to help stem the tide of rising foreclosures, industry groups warn that legislation that would force servicers to take specific loss mitigation efforts could make matters worse... Read More

MBA Asks Congress to ‘Do No Harm’ to the Industry, Lenders See Crisis of Confidence as Obstacle to Credibility

The Mortgage Bankers Association took 160 of its members to Capitol Hill this week to lobby against legislation that would “do harm” to the mortgage industry and to overcome what MBA officials described as a “crisis of confidence’ in the industry as a whole... Read More

MBA Expresses Concern About How Altering PSAs Would Affect Borrowers, Liquidity in the Market

House legislation creating a legal safe harbor for mortgage servicers performing loan modifications may not actually boost modifications but, in fact, could do investors more harm than good, mortgage bankers told Congress this week. In testimony before a... Read More

Bush Administration Continues to Oppose Plans to Bail Out ‘Underwater’ Mortgages

Three Bush administration appointees this week told Sen. Chris Dodd, D-CT, chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, that his plan for refinancing “underwater” mortgages has practical and ethical flaws. Most importantly, said... Read More

CBO Outlines Multiple Policy Options to Respond To Ongoing Housing Crisis, and Their Pros and Cons

The Congressional Budget Office last week acknowledged that there is no shortage of possible solutions to the intractable problems that plague the housing and financial markets, but none of them are silver bullets. Several proposals are focused on restructuring... Read More

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