Secondary markets

Mortgage lenders issued $30 billion of Ginnie Mae MBS in January, up 9% from the previous month, according to new figures released Thursday morning.

EverBank, which hopes to go public this year, has agreed to buy the mortgage warehouse division of MetLife Inc., for an undisclosed sum, according to industry advisors close to the deal.

Many bank warehouse operations have been closed (PNC Financial Services) or have been "listed" for sale such as Bank of America and MetLife. For a bank to purchase a major warehouse lender the bank must have a liquid balance sheet and be able to support at a minimum of carrying the established warehouse line commitments of at least $1 billion (the estimated size of MetLife's operation).

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York said Wednesday that it has sold assets with a current face value of $6.2 billion from its Maiden Lane II LLC portfolio through a competitive process to Goldman Sachs & Co.

PennyMac released 4Q earnings this morning and the big news wasn't its profit - which was decent - but the fact that it bought almost $1 billion of mortgages from other lenders via the correspondent channel.

Fixed-rate mortgage rates hit all-time lows, spurring an increase in mortgage refinance loan application volume and as a result overall mortgage application volume increased 7.5% on a seasonally adjusted basis for the week ended Feb. 3, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Trapped between conflicting requirements that indicate collapse and abolition prospects, the future status of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is emerging as one of the year's biggest concerns.

A recent Moody's Investors Service report found that securitized commercial mortgage credit quality in the fourth quarter of last year was largely the same as it was in the previous quarter, but that there was a mix of risks and credit positives that produced that stability.

Multifamily's high delinquency rates relative to other property types stems largely from loans on rent-stabilized New York properties and other loans in this category have had had a better track record when it comes to performance, according to Fitch.

Although insurance conglomerate MetLife failed to unload its residential lending division, it has found a buyer for its warehouse business, according to industry officials close to the matter.

Assured Guaranty has filed a lawsuit against UBS' real estate securities unit over breach of contract claims.

Risk appetite in the U.S. triparty repo market is slowly returning, according to Fitch Ratings in a new report.

In the past month, the Trepp CMBS delinquency rate has been hovering within a narrow band. For the last three months, the delinquency rate has shifted back and forth only slightly higher and lower. During this process, the rate has not gone over 9.60% or below 9.50%.

Wholesale lending is back! OK, not exactly. Citigroup announced its exit from the channel this past week and some trade journals - not knowing their stuff - seemed to think it was the biggest story since the Hindenburg disaster. Wholesale only accounted for 9% of Citi's production.

Even though the vast majority of its services are as an outsource solution, Bensalem, Pa.-based ISGN also provides contract employees to help meet transitory needs in the mortgage industry, including IT staff.

A Senate bill that would bar members of Congress from trading on confidential information was amended Thursday to include a ban on paying bonuses to executives at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

It appears that possible salary and bonus caps at the GSEs are not hurting the recruiting efforts of at least Fannie Mae.

The Obama administration is working toward producing a plan to wind down Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, according to Treasury secretary Timothy Geithner.

Cash-out refinancings hit a 26-year low in the fourth quarter as 85% of borrowers maintained the same loan amount or reduced their principal balance after refinancing, according to a new report by Freddie Mac.

Capstead Mortgage Corp. earned almost $42 million in the fourth quarter, flat from 3Q, but a 27% jump from the same period a year earlier.