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Inside Mortgage Finance

September 14, 2017

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Agency-Jumbo Production Sagged in 2Q17 While Non-Agency Sector Kept Growing

Deliveries of conforming-jumbo loans into mortgage-backed securities slowed during the second quarter of 2017, despite the solid increase in originations of non-agency jumbo loans, according to a new Inside Mortgage Finance analysis and ranking. During the second quarter, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae securitized $27.62 billion of single-unit mortgages that had loan amounts exceeding the $424,100 conforming loan limit. That was down 4.6 percent from the first three months of the year, a smaller drop than the 6.9 percent decline in total Fannie, Freddie, FHA and VA activity. But the non-agency jumbo market saw...[Includes three data tables] Read More

Redwood Sourcing ‘Expanded Prime’ Jumbo Mortgages From Hundreds of Correspondents

Redwood Trust has seen strong demand from borrowers and correspondent lenders for its “expanded prime” program that the aggregator introduced last year. The real estate investment trust’s Choice products allow for somewhat looser underwriting than the super-prime mortgages that have dominated the jumbo market after the financial crisis. The Choice program was introduced in April 2016. Volume has increased relatively quickly and could top $1.0 billion this year. Officials say... Read More

The Chatter Continues on M&A. Prosperity Mortgage Has a New Parent (Warren Buffett)

Mortgage originators that produce $1 billion to $4 billion a year in loans are continuing to be courted by potential suitors, but not many sale agreements are getting signed these days, according to investment bankers. “Private equity firms are still looking to enter the business, and sellers are listening, but I’m not seeing too many deals being completed,” said Chuck Klein, a managing partner at Mortgage Banking Solutions, Austin, TX. At the beginning of the year, Klein was... Read More

House GOP Begins Second Prong in Approach To Reg Relief, Considers TRID Improvement Act

When House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling, R-TX, first introduced the second version of his Financial CHOICE Act, he acknowledged the comprehensive regulatory relief package might not make it through the Senate in one piece. He said he had a “short game” and a “long game,” suggesting he was open to small, incremental change while still pushing forward with more comprehensive change over the long haul. Last week, the Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit Subcommittee executed a little of that “short game” strategy, holding a hearing to consider a handful of legislative proposals to foster a more efficient federal financial regulatory regime, including two mortgage-related bills. The potentially more significant bill is... Read More

United Wholesale Keeps Funding Startup Grants For Brokers, but Doesn’t Have Much Company

At least 40 new loan brokerage firms have been created this year thanks to $500,000 in grant money donated last fall by United Wholesale Mortgage, Troy, MI. In fact, the effort has been so successful that, UWM – which is the largest table-funder of brokers – recently kicked in another $100,000. As for future growth in the initiative, that’s hard to say. UWM, so far, has been... Read More

Input on Proposed GSE Housing Goals Mixed, Housing Groups Want to See More Impact

The Mortgage Bankers Association, along with other housing trade groups, wants to make sure that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac housing goals work in tandem with pending duty-to-serve requirements and multifamily volume caps to promote affordable housing. The MBA was one of about 10 groups that offered commentary on the proposed new housing goals for the government-sponsored enterprises for 2018 through 2020. The current goals expire at the end of the year. The Federal Housing Finance Agency released the proposed goals in June. The MBA said... Read More

Texas District Court Invalidates Obama-Era Overtime Rule, Attention Turns to Fifth Circuit as it Reviews Injunction Order

It’s back to square one for the Department of Labor after a federal court in Texas struck down an Obama administration proposal that would have made millions of people eligible for overtime pay, including some mortgage workers. Judge Amos Mazzant of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas on Aug. 31 invalidated the DOL’s pending overtime regulations, which would have raised the salary threshold exemptions under the Fair Labor Standards Act. The Obama administration finalized the proposed regulation in May last year but was unable to implement it after Mazzant granted a request for injunction filed by the Plano Chamber of Commerce and 55 other business groups last November. The business entities opposed... Read More

Nonbanks Continue Market Takeover in 2017, Could Pose Risk to GSEs, FHA and Ginnie

The growing reliance on nonbanks could pose a risk to the government housing agencies, according to a recent study by the Urban Institute’s Housing Policy Center. Just four years ago, banks originated 70 percent of new mortgages, the researchers noted. But in 2017 nonbanks are originating 60 percent of all new mortgages and 76 percent of loans destined to be securitized by Ginnie Mae. UI called... Read More

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