Secondary markets

Ginnie Mae will begin taking requests for assistance from issuers who, having exhausted all other options, are having trouble advancing borrowers' principal-and-interest payments to investors amid the pandemic.

Forbearance requirements under the CARES Act raised immediate concerns about servicing advances and performance, but experts suggest there are other outcomes to brace for, too.

Real estate crowdfunding company Sharestates launched a program Wednesday offering liquidity to private lenders and loan aggregators contending with margin calls as a result of market volatility related to the coronavirus outbreak.

Impac Mortgage Holdings suspended all mortgage lending activity for a two-week period effective March 31, citing liquidity constraints at the company's secondary market counterparties as a result of the coronavirus.

Mortgage bankers are sounding alarms that the Federal Reserve's emergency purchases of bonds tied to home loans are unintentionally putting their industry at risk by triggering a flood of margin calls on hedges lenders have entered into to protect themselves from losses.

Independent mortgage bankers had their most profitable fourth quarter in seven years for originations, but the fallout from the coronavirus could upset the economics of the industry in the short term.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency authorized the government-sponsored enterprises to lend additional support to the mortgage-backed securities market and temporarily allow some flexibility in lending requirements to address coronavirus-related concerns.

Additional mortgage-backed securities purchases by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York will address private investor skittishness about the asset class, but it will not necessarily lower rates.

It has all the trappings of a routine mortgage refinance closing. The mortgage broker, the lawyer and the homeowner, all signing off on the paperwork that will cut the interest rate on a home.

Canadian policymakers are escalating their efforts to backstop the nation’s financial system and ensure banks have plenty of room to continue lending through the coronavirus crisis.