Christopher Whalen

Whalen: "It is tempting to think that low interest rates will cure all ills in the housing sector, but this view is seriously in error, as we learned in 2008."

Any intention that Ginnie Mae may have had to slow prepayment rates by changing the rules on RPLs seems to be thwarted by the grim economic reality facing the big banks.

FHFA, HUD and Ginnie Mae should let the rate of prepayments on MBS dictate bond prices and market rates.

Not only is FHFA Director Mark Calabria preparing the GSEs to raise capital, but he must also help them decide just what they are selling to private investors in the way of equity returns and risk.

The history of riskier lending over the last half century can offer lessons for today's market.

FHFA Director Mark Calabria stated that he was directing the GSEs to "add liquidity" to the markets, but the actions of the FHFA say precisely the opposite.

FHFA head Mark Calabria and his FSOC counterparts need to sit down with the Treasury and fashion an emergency capital plan for the GSEs.

Simply stated, the federal forbearance of mortgage payments is perhaps the largest unfunded public mandate in American history.

A number of proposals have been floated for debt payment holidays and other types of moratoria, but such approaches offer solutions that are worse than the problems.

With the return of volume and profitability to mortgage lending, it is no surprise that commercial banks are coming back to the market.

To paint nonbanks as a source of systemic risk, particularly given the track record of commercial banks in causing the 2008 subprime mortgage fiasco, seems absurd.

The fact that the more operationally skilled nonbanks have come to specialize in government mortgages is hardly surprising if you assess the cost to originate and service these loans.

For the private-label mortgage-backed securities market to grow, regulators need to focus on collateral management in addition to changes to data disclosure rules.

As tenant advocates press for even more restrictive rules for rents and capital improvements to support asset values, look for the flow of investment into multifamily real estate to dwindle.

For the mortgage industry, the question of whether the Fed can control its target range for interest rates is crucial for managing volatility.

The Trump administration's thinking on housing is filled with conflicts and contradictions, a quilt work of at times irrational proposals that seem to be at odds with the real world of mortgage finance.

Whether Congress and/or the mortgage industry is able to untangle two opposing threads in the Trump administration's plans is anyone's guess.

Wide short-term swings in interest rates — and loan prepayments — that we've all witnessed have serious secondary effects on consumers, lenders, investors and also policymakers.

An important traditional tool of monetary policy has been diminished and may even become counterproductive in the future.

Will the runoff of MSRs leave a hole in the capital of the mortgage finance industry?