Tag Archives: Fannie Mae

A survey of real estate agents released Monday finds a growing number of homeowners have turned to all-cash financing in order to avoid the red tape that comes with mortgage lending. According to the latest Campbell/Inside Mortgage Finance HousingPulse Tracking Survey, an estimated 26.2 percent of home purchases by current homeowners in March relied solely on cash, up from a 12-month low of 22.8 percent recorded last August.

Since 1998, second-home mortgages have averaged about 4.76 percent of the total purchase market, but the share is rising, according to Fannie Mae. While the purchase market increased four-fold from 1998 through the bubble years, the second-home mortgage market multiplied by 15 over the same years. The second-home mortgage market did decline significantly during the housing downturn, but today, it’s alive and well.

A new group has launched on the side of shareholders in the ongoing debate for the future of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Calling itself the “Coalition for Mortgage Security,” the group describes itself as a bipartisan, grassroots organization with the goal of reforming housing finance “in a way that benefits and fairly treats current and future homeowners, taxpayers, and investors across the country.”

Fannie Mae released Monday its most recent National Housing Survey, revealing a slight softening in the housing recovery as monthly indicators remain volatile. “The housing recovery continues to proceed in fits and starts,” said Doug Duncan, SVP and chief economist at Fannie Mae. “Rising mortgage rates and a lack of supply have dampened housing market momentum.”

MountainView Servicing Group announced it is advising the sale of another two mortgage servicing rights (MSR) portfolios, these ones possessing a combined unpaid principal balance of $1.1 billion. The first portfolio, which goes up for bid April 3, is $923 million of Freddie Mac servicing. The second offering unveiled this week is a $205 million Fannie Mae portfolio bidding on April 4.

Fannie Mae released its annual Servicer Total Achievement and Rewards (STAR) results, naming Fifth Third Bank as its sole Five STAR designee for overall performance and customer service. "We are pleased to see servicers' continued efforts to improve their operations, help homeowners and meet Fannie Mae's goals," said Leslie Peeler, SVP of the National Servicing Organization at Fannie Mae.

Fannie Mae reported further contraction in its book of business for February—the second this year and the third in as many months—as new business acquisitions dropped to a five-year low. According to the enterprise’s monthly volume summary for February, business shrank at a compound annual rate of 1.4 percent, bringing the book’s total growth rate for the year to -2.4 percent.

Fannie Mae announced Friday revisions to its maximum fee assessment for servicers submitting late or inaccurate loan reports. According to the announcement, Fannie will fine servicers the greater of $250 or $50 per mortgage loan, with maximums starting at $5,000 for the first instance and climbing up to $15,000 for repeated incidents. The new fee structure goes into effect May 1, 2014.

Bank of America has agreed to a multibillion settlement with the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) to resolve allegations of securities fraud related to loans sold to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac at the height of the housing bubble. Under the agreement, BofA will make an aggregate payment of approximately $9.33 billion, $3.2 billion of which will go toward the repurchase of certain RMBS at fair market value.

Following two other reports on home price changes in January, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) released its own House Price Index (HPI), pinning monthly growth at a seasonally adjusted 0.5 percent. December’s index, meanwhile, was revised slightly downward to show a 0.7 percent increase. According to the agency, the most recent improvement marks the 23rd in the last 24 months.