GSEs

As officials prepare plans for the government-sponsored enterprises' exit from conservatorship, there's no shortage of speculation about what those plans might look like and how they might affect the mortgage industry.

Mortgage Industry Advisory Corp. will collect bids Tuesday on behalf of a seller for a more than $1 billion mortgage servicing rights package that includes securitized loans with alternative remittance cycles.

There are clear actions that regulators at the CFPB, SEC and FHFA can take to help attract investors into the housing market, argues former FHFA Director Ed DeMarco.

Presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and another Democratic senator are asking whether Kushner Cos. "may have received special treatment" on a U.S.-government-backed loan of about $800 million.

Commercial and multifamily mortgage debt outstanding continued rising, aided by low mortgage rates and the steady incline of property values, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Director Mark Calabria urged lawmakers to grant the agency chartering authority similar to that of bank regulators to boost competition in the mortgage market.

Prepayment speeds for loans included in agency mortgage-backed securities were up approximately 20% both monthly and annually during May as the decline in interest rates boosted activity, according to Keefe, Bruyette & Woods.

As purchase applications stall in the heart of home buying season despite mortgage rates nearing two-year lows, lenders continued to loosen credit standards in May, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Freddie Mac plans to introduce a mortgage this month that will simultaneously finance the purchase price of the home and improvements that will be completed after closing with a single loan.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency has far more authority to upend the status quo than most realize, according to a new report.

A long list of "preparatory steps" means that any potential Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac initial public offerings are at least three to four years away, according to Raymond James.

With the Trump administration appearing willing to shake up Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac without Congress, Reps. Lacy Clay, D-Mo., and Sean Duffy, R-Wis., said legislative action should be a priority.

The assumption that conservatorship can end without significant changes in how the GSEs operate may be the most dangerous one of all.

The consolidation of the two companies' securitization platforms into a single bond market became official on Monday.

There's been chatter about whether the government-sponsored enterprises should be considered systemically important. But supporters must consider that such a designation would put the Fed in charge of their supervision, a step that would do more harm than good.

The head of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s regulator blamed “burdensome” local regulations for a lack of housing supply, and also provided an update on the administration’s plan for GSE reform.

The nonconforming market is ready to absorb most of the government-sponsored enterprise loans covered by the QM patch, but not all of them, according Redwood Trust.

The launch of a combined securitization platform for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is meant to ease the transition to a new housing finance system. But questions remain about how the mortgage sphere will adapt to the single security.

Freddie Mac uncovered a growing number of fraudulent school records and work histories in California, where Fannie Mae also has noted increasing instances of falsified employment information.

Kushner Cos., the real estate firm owned by the family of President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, has received about $800 million in federally backed debt to buy apartments in Maryland and Virginia.