Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac gear up for change involving g-fee

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are taking a new approach to some guarantee-fee changes in coordination with their regulator. Under the change announced at the Mortgage Bankers Association’s annual conference in Denver, lenders selling loans into the mortgage-backed securities swap channel will get advance notice of certain pricing changes. The new policy aims to account for the time it takes to originate a loan for sale into the secondary market, so that a pricing update by either of the two government sponsored enterprises doesn't hurt the economics of loans in process at the time it comes out. Executives at both GSEs weighed in on the change on Monday.

READ MORE: Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac gear up for change involving g-fee

FHFA announces updates to appraisal, repurchase rules

The Federal Housing Finance Agency is updating rules governing appraisals to expand waiver access to more buyers.? Citing success it had seen in current initiatives, the agency said it would change rules governing purchase loans insured by the GSEs. Maximum loan-to-value ratio eligible for full appraisal waivers will grow from 80% to 90%. For inspection-based waivers, LTV ratio increases from 80% to 97%. "This update represents a sensible step forward in the enterprises' efforts to promote efficiencies in loan cycle times and cost savings in the broader mortgage market," said FHFA deputy director Naa Awaa Tagoe at the conference.

How VA's new last-resort mortgage assistance is shaping up

Servicers have submitted thousands of loans to the Veterans Affairs Servicing Purchase program launched ahead of their October deadline but there's still work to be done. Around 2,500 of the more than 40,000 eligible veterans for the program have VASP submissions pending, John Bell III, executive director of the VA’s loan guaranty service, said at the conference. The department wants to ensure the program has been working closely with servicers on the new assistance, so it's been patient with implementation. However, Bell said communication with servicers about the pace of the program is important when it comes to managing the funds allocated for it.

Ginnie Mae weighs capital-rule relief incentive for nonbanks

Ginnie Mae is considering offering incentives to some issuers that would ease nonbank risk-based capital requirements set to become effective at the end of the year. While the guarantor of securitized government loans continues to see pushback to the contentious rule, it foresees few problems with the upcoming implementation. "Going into the 12/31 deadline, we're going to have a high level of compliance," Ginnie Mae's Chief Risk Officer Gregory Keith said. "We think that at this point, we should not see anybody that's going to be challenged by the rule by the end of the year."

MBA predicts profitability, but with challenges ahead

Things aren't perfect in mortgage banking, but the industry has come a long way from where it was in 2023, according to the MBA’s economic and research team. Interest rates' retreat from year-ago levels has lowered at least one of the affordability hurdles for some homeowners, and new buyer demand remains high, Mike Fratantoni, the MBA’s chief economist, said at the conference. "We have 50 million people between 30 and 40 in this country right now on the cusp of prime, first-time home buying. So they're ready. The demand is there. We've just got to find the way to serve them, given the challenges that they're facing," Fratantoni said.

Sign up here to receive the National Mortgage News complete newsletter — delivered to your inbox daily.