Secondary Market

The balance of Fannie Mae's gross mortgage portfolio dropped from $436 billion in October down to $424 billion in November, marking the 52nd time in the last 53 months Fannie Mae's portfolio declined month-over-month. With the exception of December 2012, when the portfolio grew in value at a compound annualized rate of 1 percent, the value of the portfolio has declined every month since June 2010.

From the start of QM to the end of quantitative easing, the past year saw plenty of big news in the mortgage and financial markets. As the new year rolls in, MReport is taking a look at some of the biggest secondary market headlines of 2014.

According to Freddie's monthly volume summary, released Monday, the company's total portfolio ended November at an estimated $1.9 trillion, up an annualized 0.4 percent. Year-to-date, the portfolio's growth rate is an average -0.7 percent, the result of six straight months of declines through the year's first half and an additional month of contraction in August.

The internal review group for the New York-based megabank asserted in the third Chase Consumer Relief Update, compiled by monitor Joseph A. Smith Jr., that Chase has earned $2.2 billion in consumer relief credit from the period of October 1, 2013, to September 30, 2014.

In its predictions for 2015, Moody's says stronger underwriting standards, third-party reviews, and the implementation of risk retention rules will all bolster the credit quality of new private-label RMBS. "New regulations setting strict standards for origination of qualified mortgages along with ability-to-repay rules will drive the strong credit quality of new issuance," said Navneet Agarwhal, managing director at Moody's.

In a recent letter addressed to Treasury Secretary Jack Lew and Mel Watt, director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), the Community Mortgage Lenders of America (CMLA) urged the government to "take immediate action to cure the under-capitalization" of the GSEs by re-amending the payment terms established when they were forced to take a bailout after the crash.

Fannie Mae has expanded its risk sharing offerings with Wednesday's announcement of a credit insurance risk transfer (CIRT) deal, which transfers the credit risk on a pool of loans from the taxpayers to a panel of domestic reinsurers. The new deal fulfills one of the 2014 Conservatorship Scorecard goals, which was to complete a variety of risk sharing transactions.

The average interest rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) product was 3.93 percent (0.5 point) for the week ending December 11, Freddie Mac reported Thursday in its Primary Mortgage Market Survey. The average 30-year fixed rate was 3.89 percent a week ago and 4.42 percent this time last year.

According to survey results released by the Collingwood Group this week, 33 percent of mortgage lenders, servicers, and other industry professionals believe business conditions are "a little better" than they were last year. That compares to 31 percent of respondents who said the same thing in October.

By lowering the down payment down to 3 percent, leaders from the GSEs and the Federal Housing Finance Administration (FHFA) hope to increase homeownership and particularly household formation by offering loans to those who can afford mortgages but lack resources to make a 20 percent down payment plus closing costs.