Cart

Inside Mortgage Finance

January 22, 2009

View Archived Issues

Rating Agencies See No Silver Lining For Private Mortgage Insurers in 2009

There appears to be no relief in sight for private mortgage insurers as credit rating agencies predict more instability and continued negative outlook for MIs in 2009. The negative industry outlook reflects the current economic crisis, which has triggered a decline in regulatory capital for most MIs and made it difficult to maintain adequate capital levels, according to... Read More

California Remains Top GSE Market in 2008 As Slowdown Hits All States in Second Half

California was still the mother lode of new business for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in 2008, although the Golden State took its share of the downturn in business that hit nearly all areas of the country with about the same degree of force. A total of $156.17 billion of California home mortgages were sold to the two government-sponsored enterprises during... [Includes two charts] Read More

Servicers Become More Aggressive in Loan Modification Efforts, But Questions Persist

Mortgage servicers appear to be moving more aggressively to modify troubled loans even if doing so may violate pooling and servicing agreements governing loans held in mortgage securities trusts as pressure grows to address rising default and foreclosure rates.JPMorgan Chase announced last week that it is launching a mass-modification program for some $1.1 trillion of home loans... Read More

GSEs Will Begin Tracking Loan Originator, Property Appraisal Data in 2010 Business

Regulators are ratcheting up the data-reporting requirements on mortgages sold to or guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, raising compliance costs for lenders to some extent while also enhancing the industry’s ability to combat fraud. Late last week, the Federal Housing Finance Agency announced that Fannie and Freddie will be required to obtain loan-level identifiers for the loan... Read More

Genworth Still Waiting for Final OTS Action on Application to Become Thrift Holding Company

The Office of Thrift Supervision said it has not yet decided on Genworth Financial Inc.’s application to become a savings and loan holding company, a pre-requisite for eligibility for assistance under the government’s Troubled Asset Relief Program. An OTS spokesman said Genworth’s application is still being reviewed and gave no indication as to when a decision will be made... Read More

2009 Refinance Boom May Be Quieted by Tougher Standards, More Challenging Market Conditions

There is a refinance boom underway, but the trajectory of the current surge in consumer demand will be very difficult to predict as major changes in industry practice and composition exert severe gravitational pull. Since the Federal Reserve announced its plan to buy $500 billion of agency mortgage-backed securities and $100 billion of debt issued by the government-sponsored enterprises in... Read More

Major Wholesale Lenders Pull Back A Little Further on Broker Channel

Both Wells Fargo and Chase Home Finance announced steps to further cut their wholesale broker business in another move pointing to an industry-wide shift away from that sector. Chase said it was closing its wholesale business and has decided “to focus on loan originations through Chase bank branches, our Consumer Direct business, and retail-originated loans acquired... Read More

With Its Name Still on the Government’s Record Books, Countrywide Ranked as Top Ginnie Issuer in 2008

Countrywide Bank ended 2008 as the top issuer of Ginnie Mae securities, a misleading result caused by the fact that acquired companies often continue to do business under their original names until their new parent fully consolidates operations. Although Bank of America acquired Countrywide in July 2008, the company issued some $37.61 billion of Ginnie... [Includes one chart] Read More

Latest Imf News

More Imf News

Featured Data

More Featured Data

Featured Reports

More Latest Reports

Featured Poll

As homeowner equity continues to build, more and more lenders are launching home equity lending products. Are you thinking of joining this market?

View Results