Qualified Mortgages

The monthly volume of new mortgage securities insured by Ginnie Mae remained higher than it has been in more than two years in July, rising slightly on a consecutive-month basis.

With the agency mulling changes to the “Qualified Mortgage” regulation, mortgage lenders say little-known standards for how they document a borrower’s income would be a good place to start.

Lower interest rates and improved gain-on-sale margins helped Impac Mortgage Holdings record its first profitable three-month period since the first quarter of 2018.

More applications for non-QM loans might close if lenders and originators beefed up efforts to address missing or outdated information, according to Computershare.

A gradual approach would help the market absorb loans affected by the government-sponsored enterprises' expiring qualified mortgage exemption, a Redwood Trust executive told analysts during a recent earnings call.

Many in the industry say releasing GSE-backed loans from stringent underwriting rules has helped the housing market recover, but a new level of regulatory burden could reverse those gains.

Essent Group continued to benefit from the volatility in private mortgage insurers' market share, remaining in second place among the six active underwriters at the end of the recent quarter.

Fannie Mae's current tack could help it weather some of the new challenges confronting the government-sponsored enterprises, including the planned expiration of its qualified mortgage rule exemption and rate-driven earnings volatility.

The mortgage industry was caught off guard by regulators’ decision to cease special treatment for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in complying with underwriting rules. But how big of an impact will the new policy have?

The agency’s director said it will let a temporary GSE exemption from the “qualified mortgage” regulation expire.

After the government-sponsored enterprise patch expires, "near prime" loans over the 43% debt-to-income ratio should be qualified mortgages if they have compensating factors, according to the Center for Responsible Lending.

Mortgages using alternative documentation like bank statements for underwriting performed stronger than expected, but uncertainty remains about their default rates in stressed environments, Fitch Ratings said.

Alternative investment manager Pretium plans to buy Deephaven, a residential mortgage-backed securities issuer that operates outside the qualified mortgage market, from Varde Partners.

Guild Mortgage is targeting Airbnb hosts with its new refinance program, allowing them to use short-term rental income to qualify for a new loan on their owner-occupied primary residence.

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.

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.

Plaza Home Mortgage has improved its pricing for certain jumbo loans that Fannie Mae's automated underwriting system approves, but categorizes as ineligible due to loan size.

The shift to nonbank lenders will put the breaks on non-qualified mortgage and home equity line of credit origination growth.

The market for non-qualified mortgages has been robust thus far in 2019, offering a pragmatic option for otherwise viable borrowers, as long as lenders stay vigilant about pushing the envelope too far.

Lower rates hurt the value of Impac Mortgage Holdings' servicing rights and overall earnings in the first quarter, but they could help improve the company's second-quarter results.