The word from the MBA Secondary Conference

As industry players gathered in New York City this week, they debated a host of issues — from how much hotter the already hot mortgage servicing rights market could get, to the biggest cybersecurity threats in mortgage tech to the outlook for originations and more.

And while Federal Housing Administration leadership said it’s still seriously considering a premium cut, and Freddie Mac is aiming to support the growth of housing supply by broadening accessory dwelling unit criteria, the agencies are growing more cautious about opening up the credit box. Read on for more of the latest mortgage industry news.

READ: Housing agencies exercise caution in expanding underwriting

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In other news today:

Ex-FHFA chief Calabria warns of Fannie, Freddie risk

Mark Calabria, who oversaw the two government giants under Trump and was fired by the Biden administration, said in a recent interview that the government-sponsored enterprises are once again at risk of insolvency.

Mortgage lenders see 87% drop in earnings per loan in Q1

Mortgage bankers only made 5 basis points on each loan originated in the fourth quarter, preliminary data from the Mortgage Bankers Association showed, as the cost to produce reached an all-time high. The situation is "very, very challenging and very similar to what we saw in 2018," MBA economist Mike Fratantoni said. "This is coming both from a reduction in revenue as pricing gets a little bit tighter, and we're seeing — at least on dollar per loan basis — we're at an all-time high in terms of costs to originate at about $10,600 per loan."

Mortgage fraud costs banks more than nonbanks

Real estate scams have the highest impact on depository mortgage originators, costing them $5.34 for every $1 of fraudulent transactions, a study from LexisNexis Risk Solutions revealed. That is 68 cents per dollar more than the effect on nondepository originators, at $4.66. For servicers the numbers are much closer, at $4.83 for depositories and $4.79 for nonbanks.

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