How will the mortgage-backed securities market function now that the Federal Reserve has ended its program to buy more than $1 trillion in securities? The world’s biggest bond fund, Newport Beach-based Pacific Investment Management Co., says investors will keep mortgage rates down. Here are excerpts of a Q & A on…
The Federal Reserve removed one of the key props to the U.S. housing market last week when it stopped buying mortgage bonds from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. According to Bloomberg News, the Fed bought $1.25 trillion worth of mortgage-backed securities over the past 18 months, providing a source…
Honestly, I forgot the U.S. Treasury Department was buying mortgage-backed securities (MBS), since its program is much smaller than that of the Federal Reserve. Here’s an update from National Mortgage News (bold added): The Treasury Department has purchased over $200 billion in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgage-backed securities…
The House Financial Services Committee is expected to hold a hearing today on covered bonds backed by high-quality mortgages and consumer loans. Such bonds are used in Europe and some U.S. legislators think the bonds could help revive lending here, reports National Mortgage News. Here’s more: Rep. Scott Garrett,…
The Orange County District Attorney said today it has charged five people, including four in Orange County, of grand theft or related crimes for allegedly defrauding banks of $3.6 million. A married Fountain Valley couple and a mortgage broker in Newport Beach will be arraigned Tuesday. The DA filed…
I didn’t hear any buzz this week as mortgage rates dipped as low as 4.5% with a one-point fee. Maybe its the holidays, or maybe there aren’t many people left who could benefit from a refinance unless rates fall even further. Then rates nudged up late in the week…
The Wall Street Journal online reports on a talk by Brian Sack, the guy at the Federal Reserve who implements many of its market-tinkering programs. Sack’s group estimates the Fed’s $300 billion in Treasury purchases helped push down rates on those securities by half a percentage point and its…
The credit crisis rolls on with this tidbit from National Mortgage News: Banks had to buy back $7.1 billion in defaulted single-family loans in the third quarter to reimburse mortgage investors, up from $1.9 billion in the previous quarter. Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Call Report information shows that most…
I’m seeing more news reports quoting people who think the Federal Reserve should, once again, extend its purchases of securities backed by mortgages issued by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The Fed is supposed to stop by March 31. The latest comes from the Wall Street Journal quoting Federal…
Newport Beach-based Pacific Investment Management Co. was picked by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners to help assess companies’ portfolios of residential mortgage-backed securities, reports Bloomberg. Here’s more: Pimco will help evaluate about 18,000 RMBS owned by U.S. insurers, the NAIC said in a statement today. The evaluations will…