Posted To: MND NewsWire

One government housing program that had run out of funds months ago was revived by Congress yesterday, and another bill targeted at low-income rental housing moved a step closer to approval. The Senate yesterday passed HR 4899 to reestablish the popular U.S. Department of Agriculture Single-Family Housing Guaranteed Loan Program (Section 502 Housing) as a self-sustaining program. Also, the House Financial Services Committee approved H.R.4868 , the Housing Preservation and Tenant Protection Act of 2010 which aims to stem the loss of affordable rental housing units and prevent the displacement of low-income tenants. The Rural Housing program had run through its $13.1 billion funding by early this year and many buyers hoping to finance home purchases using Homebuyer Tax Credits were unable to...(read more)

Posted To: MBS Commentary

Rate sheet influential mortgage-backs are experiencing some localized weakness as stocks rally and swaps spreads widen. Nominally, yield spreads have been wider all morning but price levels were still pushing new records because Treasuries were catching a bid, but the poo hit the fan a few minutes ago and prices plummeted. We're still in the green though...just off the session highs. The September FNCL 4.0 is +0-03 at 101+30. The FNCL 4.5 is UNCH at 104-02. The secondary market current coupon is -1.6bps at 3.679. Yield spreads are at the wides of the week. After much rallying, agency MBS appear exhausted, but I doubt this will last long. Buyers have consistently jumped on any sign of weakness...unfortunately I've already seen a few reprices for the worse....(read more)

Posted To: The Garrett Watts Report

After visiting over 100 shops in the past 3 years, we haven't really seen anything “new under the sun” in terms of loan officer agreements. Sometimes I think all contractual documents used by mortgage bankers originated from the same source. But more recently we've come across a few approaches that might eventually be considered the basis for new loan officer agreement practices. I’m not necessarily promoting these ideas, but they are worth discussing. The two additions are: (1) Mandatory reserves for future losses as a result of repurchase loan issues or early pay offs and (2) Good File Delivery Standards and Criteria when submitting loans to processing. Let’s dig a little deeper into these additions... Mandatory Reserves : Most agreements have clauses that...(read more)

Posted To: Pipeline Press

The economy is so bad, I bought a toaster oven and my free gift with purchase was a bank...If the bank returns your check marked "Insufficient Funds," you call them and ask if they meant you or them...Angelina Jolie adopted a child from America...My cousin had an exorcism but couldn't afford to pay for it, and they re-possessed her..When Bill and Hillary travel together, they now have to share a room. The economy is indeed slow, generally speaking. So slow that conjecture is being openly discussed regarding yet another massive government-sponsored refinance/modification plan . I ignored them for a day or two, but figured I'd mention it anyway. Morgan Stanley put out a research piece suggesting a "change" to mortgage refinancing requirements: "The Fed and market...(read more)

Posted To: MBS Commentary

A busy day awaits the markets as investors get their first look at second-quarter GDP. Also in the store is the influential Chicago Business Barometer which gives an update on how the economy is recovering in the midwest, plus a consumer sentiment index for the nation at large. While investors wait for the GDP report, headlines are focusing on an IMF report which said the U.S. financial system may need $76 billion in fresh capital to recover. “The findings, released today as part of a broader IMF report on the U.S. financial system, suggested that while the nation’s banking system is stable, it remains vulnerable,” reports Bloomberg News. “Home prices, commercial real estate loans and economic growth have the potential to cause shocks that could expose banks to more...(read more)