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Inside Mortgage Finance

May 10, 2012

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Private MIs Hold Onto Gains in Market Share, Start 2012 Well Ahead of the Pace in Early 2011

Private mortgage insurers appear to be holding on to the gains in market share they began to accumulate in the middle of last year, according to a new Inside Mortgage Finance analysis. An estimated $108.61 billion of home mortgages originated in the first quarter of this year carried primary mortgage insurance, an increase of 9.4 percent from the previous quarter. That compared to a 3.8 percent drop in total single-family mortgage originations over that period. The apparent jump in primary MI market penetration to 28.2 percent is skewed somewhat by the process for...(Includes two data charts) Read More

Pricing May Not Help Private MIs Make Further Gains on FHA, GSE Issues Still Key

Private MI officials say FHA pricing changes have helped the industry regain some market share from the agency, but future gains may depend on how the federal government eventually changes its role in the mortgage market. After its most recent pricing adjustment in April of this year, the FHA does not expect to make further changes in its insurance premiums, said Charles Coulter, deputy assistant secretary at the FHA, during this week’s secondary market conference sponsored by the Mortgage Bankers Association. “We are an average pricer, and that alone creates opportunities” for private MIs, he said... Read More

Genworth Cuts Prices, Expands Credit Guidelines to Boost Competitiveness

Genworth Financial this week announced some price and underwriting guideline adjustments aimed at reducing the cost of insurance for most mortgages and making the private mortgage insurer more competitive in the marketplace. Effective for applications received on or after May 14, Genworth is reducing monthly and single premium MI rates (borrower paid and lender paid), subject to state approvals. For monthly premium MI, rates are being lowered for all loans with loan-to-value ratios less than or equal to 95 percent. Rates for LTVs above 95 percent will remain the same, the company said, although new adjustments for... Read More

Fannie Posts 1Q12 Profit to Avoid Treasury Bailout, But Dividends Push Freddie to Seek Another Infusion

Fannie Mae posted a profit large enough to cover its government dividend payment for the first quarter of 2012, while Freddie Mac came up a little short and had to ask the government for an additional $19 million to remain solvent. Fannie reported $2.7 billion in net income during the first quarter, compared to a net loss of $2.4 billion in the fourth quarter of 2011 and a net loss of $6.5 billion in the first quarter of 2011. The company credited its better results to lower credit-related expenses, resulting from a less significant decline in home prices, a decline in the company’s inventory of real estate... Read More

Mortgage Lenders Anxious About QM Rule And Disparate Impact as CFPB Sifts Options

The combination of weak legal protection, a narrow definition of “qualified mortgages” and growing use of the disparate impact theory of lending discrimination is creating rifts in the mortgage banking industry and leading some companies to pull back or abandon the market altogether. The ability-to-repay rule being developed by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was arguably the most talked-about issue at this week’s secondary market conference held by the Mortgage Bankers Association. Its two major ingredients are a definition of qualified mortgages – loans that are underwritten to certain... Read More

How to Limit Buybacks: Cultivate Clean Lending Processes and Business Culture

Although there are signs that the clouds may be lifting over the five-year housing recession, mortgage lenders face unrelenting pressure from investors to repurchase loans or cover their losses. Some buyback requests are legitimate and should be honored, said David Stevens, president and CEO of the Mortgage Bankers Association, during a speech at the trade group’s secondary market conference in New York this week. “But lenders are finding more and more loans being sent back for repurchase for minor, technical mistakes that had questionable relevance to loan performance,” he said. The threat of repurchases... Read More

CFPB Convening Small Entity Panel to Brief, Gather Input on Pending Discount Points and Fees Proposal

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is putting together a group of small businesses related to the mortgage lending industry to brief them on the CFPB’s pending proposed rule on discount points and fees paid to mortgage originators and to gather initial industry input on the subject. Senior officials told the press this week they are assembling a panel per the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act, which requires the CFPB to convene a small business panel before rolling out regulations that the bureau expects to have a significant impact on a substantial number of small business... Read More

Rapid Changes Should Lead Portfolio Managers To Review Mortgage Investments, Consider Sales

Although agency mortgage securitization gobbles up a huge share of new home loan originations, jumbo mortgages, home-equity loans and nontraditional mortgage sectors are largely held in retained portfolios that have to be carefully managed, experts say. “Your loan portfolio is incredibly important,” said Jerry Hubbard, president of FTN Financial Capital Assets Corporation during a panel at this week’s Mortgage Bankers Association Secondary Market Conference. “Your consolidated portfolio is three to four times bigger than an investment portfolio. It’s the most important asset on the books... Read More

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