Fannie Plans Massive Delinquent Buybacks in March

Fannie Mae plans to purchase up to 200,000 delinquent loans out of its mortgage-backed securities in March, but is holding off on giving guidance on whether it can maintain that run-rate over the coming months. It's expected that premium coupons will be bought out first with lower coupons acquired over subsequent months. The release of Fannie's promised second wave of information on its plan for massive buyouts has brought clarity to a market that has been somewhat volatile due to lingering uncertainties about the process. New information released by Fannie sheds more light on the pace and priority of the buyouts - as well as on Fannie's 120-day-plus delinquency rates. A Barclays report released Tuesday says the information about timing is more important in its view but still lacks specifics. Fannie said it plans to repurchase 150,000 to 200,000 delinquent loans in March, giving researchers information that helps them price MBS. As far as the new information about Fannie's 120-day-plus delinquencies, this generally puts Fannie "on par in terms of disclosures with Freddie Mac," according to Barclays.