Of the publicly traded insurers, MGIC, Genworth and United Guaranty (part of AIG), reported positive income, with Radian still trying to break out of negative territory. Privately held Essent Guaranty, a newbie, is coming on strong, with $10 billion in new business through the first half, versus $3.6 billion in the year-earlier period, according to IMF.

“Delinquencies are down, and the companies have recapitalized,” said Bose George, an analyst at Keefe Bruyette Woods. “At the same time, FHA is reducing its role in the market, so this has given them significant growth opportunities. … The companies have reversed their position and are starting to show modest profitability.”

(Read more: Mortgage delinquencies take a sharp turn up)

The private insurers have also benefited from the government housing bailout—the refinance program for underwater borrowers as well as the Home Affordable Modification Program. Both help borrowers make their monthly payments and stay current on their loans, although HAMP has come under fire recently as a report from the Troubled Asset Relief Program’s inspector general found the program had a high re-default rate.

Article source: http://www.cnbc.com/id/100956144

The best number out of today’s report on sales of newly built homes is not the 7.3 percent bump up in signed contracts, it’s the drop in inventories to a 6.5 month supply.

That number is based on a quicker sales pace and a drop of 5000 in the absolute number of newly built homes on the market.

That volume is the lowest since at least 1963, according to Miller Tabak’s Peter Boockvar, who worries that the supply of existing homes is still simply too much for anyone to be touting the builders.

“The best response on the part of builders is to shoot themselves in the foot for as long as they can financially stand, so the market can more quickly absorb the excess inventory of existing homes which make up most of the overall market,” writes Boockvar.

Aristar’s JT Smith chimes in on the actual April sales number: “Unadjusted sales of 32k makes April 2011 tied for the worst April sales number in recorded history.”

My concern is not over the inventory of newly built homes. I think it’s a big positive. My problem is the glut of bargain-priced REO (bank owned) homes against which the builders compete.

Check out a chart we re-made from data by the Calculated Risk Blog.

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Article source: http://www.cnbc.com/id/43151710?__source=RSS*blog*&par=RSS

Barely a few minutes after reading an article in the Wall Street Journal about banks finally opening the “spigot for commercial real-estate,” the folks over at Trepp issued their monthly report on the delinquency rate for commercial mortgage backed securities (CMBS); let’s just say it isn’t good.

After two months of very minimal rate increases, the number jumped in April, 23 basis points, to 9.65 percent, “the highest reading in the history of the CMBS market,” according to Trepp.

To say the recovery is, as the report notes, “bumpy,” is putting it mildly. The rate should be going down for two reasons:

First, as new CMBS deals, which are generally current loans, are added to the pool of all CMBS loans, the larger denominator in itself should push the rate down. Second, “special servicers have been resolving a greater number of troubled legacy CMBS loans than they were 18 months ago,” according to Trepp. And yet the rate goes higher.

So now the balance of delinquent loans exceeds $62.8 billion, up from $61.5 billion in March.

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Article source: http://www.cnbc.com/id/42900705?__source=RSS*blog*&par=RSS

Yesterday morning I attended the FDIC’s background press briefing before the vote on proposed risk retention rules.

While the rules covered a vast ground, I was of course most interested in those that focus on the “Qualified Residential Mortgage.”

The QRM would be the exemption from risk retention, and therefore banks would want most borrowers to fall under the QRM standard.

A few moments after we reporters sat down at the big conference table, FDIC representatives clunked down a huge document in front of each of us. Then another, then another: Well over 200 pages of what these proposed rules are all about. Thankfully, they then had some other FDIC folks explain to us exactly what we needed to know. I then ran out onto the balcony camera and reported the three top points…20 percent down payment, debt to income ratio requirements and various servicer rules.

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Article source: http://www.cnbc.com/id/42341427?__source=RSS*blog*&par=RSS