Secondary markets

Freddie Mac fulfilled its promise to offer a single mortgage that finances the home purchase price and improvements completed after closing.

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.

Housing finance agencies reported increased demand for their loan products, but at the same time the inventory shortage constrains activity and drives them to work with other public entities to find solutions, Moody's said.

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.

Ginnie Mae is examining whether the shift in business to nonbank issuers has implications beyond the risks it has historically looked at, and identifying advantages that should be nurtured as well.

Independent mortgage banks became profitable again at the start of the year after realizing losses of $200 for each loan they originated in the fourth quarter of 2018, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

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

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.

Despite the benefits of going to a fully or hybrid digital mortgage process, some lenders still hesitate to adopt it as fast as expected.

The Federal Housing Administration and Ginnie Mae will use their lagging digital mortgage positions to their advantage as they put an emphasis on building their technology.

Prepayments tied to repeated VA loan refinancing activity have had an adverse effect on Ginnie’s mortgage securities that persists despite countermeasures. The government bond issuer is making new plans to address the impact.

With prospects for government-sponsored enterprise reform improving, players in the private residential mortgage-backed securities market are starting to think about how they could better compete against the GSEs while awaiting change.

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

PIMCO Mortgage Income Trust tabled plans to launch an initial public offering this week following a steep stock market decline Monday.

Investors can now exchange certain existing Freddie Mac bonds for to-be-announced uniform mortgage-backed securities in preparation for the full launch of UMBS next month.

Recapitalizing the GSEs by cutting off returns to the government would essentially be buying the GSEs from the taxpayers with money that belongs to the taxpayers.

Even after integrating the 52 Wells Fargo branches acquired in December as part of its efforts to diversify beyond home lending, Flagstar Bancorp's first-quarter earnings were driven by increased mortgage revenue.

Surging loan production expenses and low revenue killed profits in 2018 for loans originated by independent mortgage bankers and subsidiaries of chartered banks, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Citigroup's first quarter mortgage-related revenue increased compared with the fourth quarter — although down slightly from the same period last year — as its lending operations continued to contract.

Freddie Mac exchanged existing bonds from its portfolio for mirror certificates for the first time, completing a key test that is central to the creation of a uniform mortgage-backed security.