Housing Wire

RMBS Ratings Proposal Will Determine Insurers’ Capital Requirements

DIANA GOLOBAY — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 22:19:57 +0000

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) on Thursday approved a proposal to establish a new model for determining ratings of residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS). The new model will establish ratings designations for approximately 18,000 RMBS owned by US insurers by the end of 2009. It will by extension help to determine the risk-based capital requirements [...]

Ginnie’s Single-Family Delinquency Rate Drops to 3.48%

JON PRIOR — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 21:51:06 +0000

The Government National Mortgage Association, Ginnie Mae, guaranteed more than $38.6bn in mortgage-backed securities (MBS) in October. In September, Ginnie reported that 3.48% of the single-family loans in its guaranteed securities were 90-plus days delinquent, down from 3.7% in August and 3.59% in December 2008. For 2009, Ginnie has provided nearly $376bn of liquidity to the secondary [...]

Obama Signs First-Time Homebuyer Tax Credit Extension

JON PRIOR — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 20:44:03 +0000

President Barack Obama signed the “Worker, Homeownership and Business Assistance Act of 2009” into law on Friday, extending the first-time homebuyer tax credit as well as certain jobless benefits at a time when the US unemployment rate has officially reached 10.2%. With the first-time homebuyer tax credit originally scheduled to expire on Dec. 1, 2009, HR [...]

BarCap Sees ‘Limited Use’ of Fannie’s Deed-for-Lease Program

DIANA GOLOBAY — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 19:10:59 +0000

Although a new foreclosure alternative program announced Thursday by Fannie Mae (FNM: 1.04 -7.14%) presents a new step in mitigating foreclosure risk among distressed borrowers, it looks to have only a “marginal” effect on prepayments within Fannie residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS), according to market commentary by Barclays Capital (BarCap). The Deed-for-Lease (D4L) program allows qualified borrowers [...]

Higher Unemployment Means Many More Distressed Properties to Come

JACOB GAFFNEY — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 17:54:07 +0000

A panel meeting today at the Safeguard Properties National Property Preservation Conference in Washington DC shifted gears to address the “unexpected” jump in unemployment rates. Unemployment in the United States now stands at 10.2%, somewhat beyond the forecast of economists. The US Conference of Mayors, a nonpartisan organization that represents cities with populations greater than 30,000, is [...]

Fannie Asks Treasury for $15Bn, May Sell Housing Tax Credits

DIANA GOLOBAY — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 17:33:34 +0000

Financial fallout at mortgage giant Fannie Mae (FNM: 1.04 -7.14%) continues to develop following the $19.8bn quarterly net loss, with the agency’s conservator confirming Fannie may sell as much as $2.6bn of low-income housing tax credits to investors and is requesting another $15bn in support from the US Treasury Department. The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) [...]

IBM To Launch HAMP Mod Software in 2010

JON PRIOR — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 17:32:17 +0000

In January 2010, the global IT services giant IBM (IBM: 123.49 +0.77%) plans to launch a new loan modification software package that will give borrowers more on-hands control of their mortgage modifications. On display at the Loan Modification Conference this week in Dallas, Texas, the interface provides borrower outreach, loan modification fulfillment and post-modification surveillance for [...]

Calif. Commercial Delinquency Rate Drops to 0.23%: CMBA

JON PRIOR — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 16:13:27 +0000

The delinquency rate for commercial loans in California slipped 3bps from 0.26% to 0.23% in Q309, according to a survey conducted by the California Mortgage Bankers Association (CMBA). The survey spans 16 mortgage banking firms and more than $55bn of commercial and multi-family loans. Of the 6,453 loans surveyed, 19 had fallen into delinquency. The largest of [...]

Fed Buys Another $16Bn of Agency MBS

DIANA GOLOBAY — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 16:00:50 +0000

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York bought $16bn of mortgage-backed securities (MBS) from housing finance agencies Freddie Mac (FRE: 1.23 -1.60%), Fannie Mae (FNM: 1.04 -7.14%) and Ginnie Mae in the week ending November 4. The Fed bought $3.27bn from Freddie, $12.55bn from Fannie and $175m from Ginnie. For the first week in months, were [...]

Ocwen Loses $42m in Q309 After 39% Drop in Servicing Income

JON PRIOR — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:42:03 +0000

Ocwen Financial (OCN: 9.58 -8.15%) reported a $42m net loss, or $0.51 a share, in Q309, compared to a $15m net income in Q308. A $50.6m one-time tax expense from the spin-off of its technology and business outsourcing line, Ocwen Solutions, cut into the $23.5m in pretax income for Q309. Income for Ocwen Financial’s servicing operations dropped [...]