Who sells loans directly to Fannie or Freddie? The lists shouldn’t be a surprise. Fannie’s top 10, last to first, are Flagstar, AmTrust, BofA, Indymac, GMAC, Suntrust, Chase, Citi, Wells, and Countrywide. Freddie’s are First Horizon, GMAC, Citi, Taylor Bean, US Bank, WaMu, Chase, Countrywide, BofA, and Wells.

On July 14th HUD, and the Federal Housing Administration, will start charging upfront mortgage insurance premiums on their FHASecure program, based on the borrower’s credit score and down payment. Currently, the FHA charges borrowers 1.50 percent of the loan balance upfront and .50 percent annually regardless of their credit standing. Under the new rule for FHASecure loans, FHA’s upfront mortgage insurance premium will range from 1.25 percent to 2.25 percent, and they will operate like most other insurance companies. This premium structure will preserve lower premium costs for FHA’s traditional borrowers, including low-income and minority families who have a strong credit history and save for a down payment.

Did you know that all first time homebuyers (none of the borrowers has a 12 month mortgage history reflected on their credit report within the last 3 years) require pre-purchase counseling for FHA financing? Participation in pre-purchase counseling/first time homebuyer education is required for all first time homebuyers using FHA financing. For a list of acceptable first time homebuyer courses, refer to HUD Approved Counseling Agencies .

Want to do a loan in Sonoma County, CA through Wachovia? Be careful. Unfortunately, Sonoma is considered “stressed” and therefore limited to a 60 % maximum LTV by Wachovia/ex-World!

Radian clarified some earlier announcements. If a loan is submitted as a 95% and the fico is 620-679 and in a declining market, that loan would need to be dropped to a 90% LTV (even with a DU Approve/Eligible or LP Accept/Eligible).  If loan comes in at a 95% and the fico is 680 and above, the borrower would not need to lower it 5% to 90%. The maximum LTV for Condo’s/Attached PUD’s in declining markets is 90% and that condos in the state of Nevada or in Miami-Dade or Broward Counties in Florida are not eligible for Radian Mortgage Insurance.

Economic news-wise, there is nothing this morning, although mortgage prices are slightly worse and the 10-yr is up to 3.78%. Interestingly, there are a large number of speeches by Fed officials, including a speech tomorrow by Fed Chairman Bernanke. (Market expectations for future Fed policy were little changed last week, and analysts are currently giving an 18% chance of a rate cut to 1.75% at the FOMC’s next meeting at the end of June.) Tomorrow at 5:30AM PST is the release of April’s Retail Sales data. Since consumer spending makes up two-thirds of the U.S. economy, this data is relatively important. Are you going out and buying new suits and expensive car stereo systems? If not, others probably aren’t buying many either…current forecasts are calling for no change in sales from March to April.

On Wednesday we have April’s Consumer Price Index (CPI). It is similar to next week’s PPI report, but measures inflationary pressures at our level of the economy. Current forecasts are calling for increases of 0.2% and 0.3% respectively in the overall index and the core data readings. Lastly, Friday brings April’s Housing Starts and early May US Consumer Confidence. 

A married man was having an affair with his secretary.
One day they to went her place and made love all afternoon.  Exhausted, they fell asleep and woke up at 8 PM.
The man hurriedly dressed and told his lover to take his shoes outside and rub them in the grass and dirt.
He put on his shoes and drove home.
“Where have you been?” his wife demanded.
“I can’t lie to you,” he replied, “I’m having an affair with my secretary.  We were together all afternoon.”
“You liar!  You’ve been playing golf!”

Rob C.