| Oct 23, 2012 5:26PM The Mortgage Bankers Association's ( MBA ) chief economist echoed much of what Freddie Mac's economists said this afternoon as he hiked MBAs estimates for mortgage originations both this year and in 2013. Jay Brinkmann said he expects to see the value of originations hit 280250.7 trillion this year and 280250.3 trillion in 2013. Next year's increases will be driven by a spillover of refinances from 2012 into the first half of 2013. The Association revised its 2012 estimates of refinancing to 280250.2 trillion... Oct 23, 2012 4:36PM Freddie Mac is revisiting its economic projections for the remainder of 2012 and 2013 due to the announcement by the Federal Reserve of its Maturity Extension Program known as " QE3 ." Under the program the Fed will increase its purchases of agency mortgage-backed securities (MBS) by $40 billion per month while continuing the term extension (also known as Operation Twist) of its portfolio. Taken together the two programs will increase the Fed's holdings of longer term securities by about $85 billion...
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