Mortgages

With interest rates expected to stay low while wages and the overall economy grow in conjunction, Fannie Mae again boosted its single-family mortgage origination outlook for 2019, 2020 and 2021.

The agency is sending a strong message that it won’t rush to end an exemption for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac while also signaling longer-term changes that will affect all lenders.

Director Kathy Kraninger has told lawmakers that the agency will delay the expiration of the so-called QM patch, now set for January 2021.

Fannie Mae is sponsoring a $1.03B CRT transaction, while Caliber Homes Loans, New Residential and Onslow Bay fill the non-QM pipeline

Despite changes by the Federal Housing Administration, bankers remain reluctant to join the program for fear of legal liability. But that could change if it revamps servicing processes, experts say.

The delinquency rate for commercial mortgage-backed securities ended 2019 at its lowest point in nearly 11 years, aided by increased issuance and the resolution of legacy transactions, Fitch Ratings said.

Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Mark Calabria discussed the possibility of having Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac operate under a consent order to allow the government-sponsored enterprises to be able to raise capital.

Getting Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac out of conservatorship has been an elusive goal. It will remain elusive, says DeMarco, in the absence of broader reform of housing finance, something that will require bipartisan support.

Consumer perception of the housing market ticked up slightly in December, as potential buyers remain bullish about making a home purchase in 2020, a Fannie Mae report said.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development has proposed an overhaul of an Obama-era rule meant to guide local jurisdictions in how they comply with the Fair Housing Act.

New securitizations backed by Home Equity Conversion Mortgages fell 14% in 2019 as interest in originating proprietary products increased, according to New View Advisors’ analysis of public and private data.

Bridge REIT LLC is sponsoring a securitization backed mostly by transitional and rehab multifamily properties via Wells Fargo.

The Federal Housing Administration has implemented defect taxonomy revisions for 2020 that it considers one of several milestone achievements in its efforts to "provide greater clarity and consistency for lenders.”

Redwood Trust’s next mortgage-backed securitization consists almost entirely of older mortgages it originally sold off, but has since reacquired to assign to its first deal of the new year.

November's foreclosure starts hit their lowest level since Black Knight started tracking this data in 2000, while the foreclosure rate reached a 14-year low.

The FHFA’s attempt to move some of its balance sheet into the private sector could leave investors with greater liabilities than they were initially told.

The Department of Banking and Insurance in New Jersey is warning that enforcement of a 2019 residential mortgage servicer licensing law will begin next year.

Now is not the time for the government to cut Federal Housing Administration premiums and enter new segments of the housing market.

A risk-based capital rule for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is expected to top the agenda in 2020 as the companies’ regulator executes plans for their release into the private sector.

A trade group is looking into why New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo felt foreclosure risks were too high to sign a bill that would have approved reverse mortgages for cooperative properties.