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Inside Mortgage Finance

July 25, 2008

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GSE ‘Crisis’ Helps Congress Reach Deal With Bush Administration on Omnibus Housing Bill

Congress and the White House late this week appeared on the verge of accomplishing the seemingly unreachable goal of enacting sweeping new mortgage legislation that will expand the FHA and significantly change the government’s relationship to Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Home Loan Banks. On a 272-152 vote, the House approved an revised version of the omnibus housing legislation that... Read More

Mortgage Production Drops to Seven-Year Low as Top Lenders Continue Grabbing More Market Share

Wells Fargo ranked as the top mortgage producer in the country at the midway point in 2008 as industry-wide origination activity dropped 10.4 percent, according to a new market analysis and ranking by Inside Mortgage Finance. An estimated $430.0 billion of new single-family mortgages were originated during the second quarter, the lowest production volume... [Includes two charts and one graph] Read More

Courson to Take Over as Top Staffer at MBA as Trade Group Braces for Changing Environment

The Mortgage Bankers Association this week announced that its top staff officer, Jonathan Kempner, will leave the trade group at the end of 2008, making way for a former industry executive to take over the reins during a time of ongoing turmoil in the mortgage market. The MBA, which recently moved into new corporate headquarters, faces significant financial challenges from a... Read More

New IMF-Sponsored Study Highlights Why FHA Mortgage Activity Has Soared in 2008

The single-family FHA mortgage program, which all but vanished in the boom times of subprime and Alt A lending, is experiencing a huge surge in popularity in 2008. In fact, FHA lending was the fastest growing sector of the mortgage market in the second quarter of this year, according to new numbers compiled by Inside Mortgage Finance.A detailed explanation of why FHA volume is... [Includes one chart] Read More

Reactions Positive to Tough Final HOEPA Rule, But Many Say It’s Only a Start

The Federal Reserve last week made great strides to help a crippled mortgage market move in the right direction when it approved new rules on mortgage lending and advertising, industry experts say, but many observers think further changes may be in the wings. In final revisions to Regulation Z that implement the Home Ownership and Equity Protection Act, the Fed weighed some 4,700... Read More

Freddie Mac Becomes SEC Registrant, But Is Biding Its Time on Capital Raise

Five years after promising to do so, Freddie Mac last week completed its registration under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, now subjecting the government-sponsored enterprise to the law’s reporting requirements, joining rival Fannie Mae and the 12 Federal Home Loan Banks. The registration means Freddie will disclose direct financial obligations and off-balance sheet... Read More

Lenders Concerned About Investor Group’s Proposal for Voluntary Increased Disclosure on Non-Agency MBS

Non-agency mortgage securitization is a shadow of itself this year, causing problems for many lenders previously reliant on the originate-to-sell model. The American Securitization Forum last week issued a proposal to boost the non-agency MBS market, but the effort relies heavily on previously non-disclosed information from lenders.The ASF’s proposed Project on Residential Securitization... Read More

Sale of IndyMac’s Retail Branches Moves Forward as FDIC Shops Servicing and Reverse Mortgage Units

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. is looking to unload assets from IndyMac Bank by the beginning of October, including a mortgage servicing portfolio of $200.7 billion – the eighth largest servicing business in the industry. While the federal regulator grapples with troubled loans in the portfolio and continues to operate IndyMac’s reverse mortgage unit, a sale of many of the lender’s retail... Read More

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