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(no surprise) NAHB Criticizes Mortgage-Fee Raise in Payroll Tax - BY: RYAN SCHUETTE - At least one key trade group opposes plans by some lawmakers to introduce a raise for mortgage fees in a payroll tax extension. - The M Report
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Investors flock to collateralized mortgage obligations - by JACOB GAFFNEY - Secondary market investors are steadily buying up collateralized mortgage obligations, according to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, which tracks recently issued structured products. ... CMOs are an earlier, simpler version of residential and commercial mortgage-backed securities. In these bonds, more properties are typically used than necessary. As defaults rise, performing properties replace nonperforming. This type of credit enhancement, known as overcollateralization, is more common in CMOs than RMBS. ... - Housingwire
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Why Trump Is Wrong On Mortgages - By Peter G. Miller - Donold Trump — a possible candidate for President in the coming election and the organizer of a Republican presidential debate — thinks mortgages are tough to get, maybe impossible. - Ourbroker.com

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(interesting) Reverse mortgage bond investors feel sting of foreclosure delay - by JON PRIOR - ... The FHA guarantees the full outstanding balance of the loan but only as long as the property resells within six months of entering REO. If it spends longer in REO, the FHA will base the reimbursement on a new appraisal rather than the outstanding balance of the loan. With home values dropping and REO timelines so long, up to a year in some areas of the country, the new appraisal is almost guaranteed to come in below the outstanding loan balance. For HECM loans bundled into securities guaranteed by Ginnie Mae this isn't a problem, because Ginnie will still make the payments due to the investor. But private-label HECM loans have experienced losses because of the rule, according to Moody's Investors Service. – Housingwire 
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Republicans Oppose FHA Nominee Over Bailout Fears - by Alan Zibel - ... The Senate Banking Committee voted Tuesday to approve Carol Galante ... Republicans said they were worried about whether the Obama administration is doing enough to stabilize the agency’s finances – and whether officials are doing enough on to tackle the broader issue of how to overhaul the U.S. mortgage market. “I think we need people now in the administration with a sense of urgency ... said Sen. Jim DeMint (R., S.C.). “She does not appear to have that sense of urgency.” ... - Wall Street Journal

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Risks Prevail At Annaly And American Capital - by Takeover Analyst - ... But really what I want to focus on today is related to the low interest-rate environment that we are in and it's really the prepayment picture because in the absence of any real change to this environment which we don't see happening in the near term, prepayments are really going to dominate performance in the REIT space and it's really going to be a key driver of our returns. ... - Seeking Alpha
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Lukewarm Hopes for Housing Recovery in 2012 - By Diane Gozza - ... The housing market may have been taken off life support and is showing some viable sputtering of recovery but we are not out of the woods yet. We should be cautiously optimistic as the upcoming political events could disrupt the process. The current administration has lobbed several only marginally successful salvos at the problem and continues to proceed at a glacial pace, showing no progress in response to the results gathered from the GSE’s bulk REO solution RFI. The impending 2012 election could yield more of the same if a Democrat is elected.  While the Republican agenda favors an opening of the floodgates and acceleration to clear the market… say good-bye to any stabilized home value appreciation. ... - Mortgage Servicing News

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Most dealers see Fed buying more MBS: Reuters poll - (Reuters) - ... according to a Reuters poll. Ten of 17 primary dealers, the large financial institutions that do business directly with the Fed, said they expect the central bank to undertake a new program of buying mortgage-backed securities. ...
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Mortgage Profits Double in Third Quarter, With Volume up 36% - by Alyssa Gerace - ... according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Third Quarter 2011 Mortgage Bankers Performance Report, released Dec. 8. ... This was the most favorable quarterly results in production since the refinancing wave in the third quarter of 2010, when net profits were 71.46 basis points,” said the MBA. Secondary market gains in basis points also increased, to 229 basis points from 210 in the last quarter. Refinances made up 45% of total originations, in dollar volume, compared to 36% in the second quarter ... - Reverse Mortgage Daily 
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600: Magic Number for Credit Scores on FHA Loans in 2012 - By Brandon Cornett - hattip Rob Chrisman - Home Buying Institute

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Newcastle Rises After Striking Servicing Deal With Nationstar - By Jody Shenn - (Bloomberg) - Newcastle Investment Corp., the mortgage-asset buyer managed by Fortress Investment Group LLC, rose by the most this month after saying it will invest in mortgage-servicing rights with Nationstar Mortgage LLC. The real-estate investment trust will pay $44 million to acquire a 65 percent interest in some of the revenue generated from servicing rights on $9.9 billion of mortgages guaranteed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, according to a presentation posted yesterday on the New York-based company’s website. It will split 29 basis points of the 35 basis points in revenue from the contracts with Nationstar, which is owned by Fortress – Bloomberg

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(chart too) Down payment on a Calif. home averages 13.25% - Lanser on Real Estate - OC Register

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(always thoughtful) Housing Cannot Recover If Employment Is Trending Down - Charles Hugh Smith - ... The tragic irony of the Fed’s policies of buying impaired mortgage debt and suppressing mortgage rates is that this has impeded the market from properly pricing houses, mortgages, and risk. ... In other words, manipulating and impeding the market only increases the risk, driving the risk-averse out of the market. That leaves only the reckless in the housing market — those plunking down 3% for an FHA-backed mortgage and those lenders who have transferred the risk of default to the Federal agencies: Fannie, Freddie, and FHA. This “moral hazard” — the separation of risk from gain/loss — leaves the taxpayer on the hook ...- much more - Of Two Minds blog

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(U.K.) FSA to announce relaxation on mortgage lending - ... Currently, if they sold the house for £90,000 they would still owe the bank £10,000 - money which they may not have. But under the new rules, assuming the couple wanted to buy a property in another area for £90,000, they would sell up for £90,000. Then, without having to pay off the £10,000 balance, they would be allowed to remortgage to buy the new property. The homeowners would still owe the bank £100,000 but would effectively be taking their negative equity with them. - ... Telegraph - Yahoo News

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