Subprime Mortgages

Browse articles from all of our Newsletters related to Subprime Mortgages.

June 14, 2013 - Inside FHA Lending

CMC: Fear of HPMLs Could Slow FHA Lending

The likelihood of new loans exceeding the statutory “high-priced mortgage loan” (HPML) threshold due to a recent policy change relating to FHA mortgage insurance premium payments is causing uneasiness among some lenders, said an industry trade group. This week, the Consumer Mortgage Coalition warned that lenders might not originate FHA-insured loans if they thought the new MIP policy would cause the mortgages to turn into HPMLs and subject them to increased liability. Specifically, the new MIP policy might prevent ...


June 14, 2013 - Inside FHA Lending

Wells Fargo Agrees to Settle REO Anti-Bias Charge

Wells Fargo has reached an agreement with the Department of Housing and Urban Development and fair housing advocacy groups to improve its handling of foreclosed and abandoned homes and resolve allegations of discrimination in the maintenance and marketing of real estate-owned properties. The National Fair Housing Alliance and several other fair housing groups filed a complaint with HUD in April last year after observing that Wells’ foreclosed homes in minority neighborhoods did not receive the same treatment and care as the bank’s REO properties in white neighborhoods. The NFHA, which conducted an ...


June 14, 2013 - Inside Nonconforming Markets

Subprime Volume Indicators and ABX Prices

A half page of subprime and jumbo data.


June 14, 2013 - Inside Nonconforming Markets

News Briefs

The Structured Finance Industry Group said it had substantive discussions with staff members at the Securities and Exchange Commission this week regarding loan-level data formats for mortgages. The SFIG said it plans to work with the Mortgage Bankers Association to potentially enhance the MBA’s Mortgage Industry Standards Maintenance Organization data fields. The SFIG said it is considering pushing for MISMO standards to be used in the government-sponsored enterprises’ risk-sharing ... [Includes three briefs]


June 14, 2013 - Inside Nonconforming Markets

Mixed Results for New Nonprime Lenders

“People are finally calling us,” Dan Perl, CEO of the privately held Citadel Loan Servicing Corp. of Irvine, CA, told Inside Nonconforming Markets. He said the newly launched subprime or “hard money” lender is starting to gain traction. Perl said the origination business was slow two months ago, but Citadel is on track to fund $6 million to $8 million in mortgages in June. The lender is originating residential loans for borrowers with low credit scores, offering loan-to-value ratios up to 75 percent ...


June 14, 2013 - Inside MBS & ABS

Improved Housing Data, Price Adjustments Present Attractive Investment Options in Non-Agency MBS

The recent market tumult caused by suggestions that the Federal Reserve’s quantitative easing program (QE3) may soon be tapering off is likely over, and price adjustments may have created good buying opportunities in the non-agency MBS sector, according to analysts. With less than $1 trillion in MBS still outstanding in the market, and very few higher-yield investment options around, non-agency MBS remains a good investment choice, said Bank of America Merrill Lynch analysts Chris Flanagan, Ryan Asato and Justin Borst. In their latest market analysis, the BAML researchers said...


June 14, 2013 - Inside MBS & ABS

Agencies Drive Mortgage Securitization Rates to Record Levels in 1Q13, Timing Issues a Factor

New single-family MBS issuance accounted for a record 90.1 percent of home loan originations during the first quarter of 2013, according to a new Inside MBS & ABS analysis. An estimated $500.0 billion of new home mortgages were originated during the first three months of the year, down 4.8 percent from the fourth quarter of 2012, as refinance activity began to weaken. But mortgage securitization activity declined at a slower pace, falling just 0.6 percent in the first quarter. That pushed...[Includes one data chart]


June 13, 2013 - Inside Mortgage Finance

Will Non-QM Mortgages be the New Subprime? And How Will You Safely Navigate Those Waters?

Some experts are predicting that the new ability-to-repay rule issued by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which sets the boundaries of “qualified mortgages,” will also lead some lenders to focus on so-called non-QM loans that will become the new subprime market. At the American Bankers Association’s regulatory compliance conference, held this week in Chicago, ABA Senior Regulatory Counsel Rodrigo Alba said publicly what many mortgage bankers have been thinking privately. Responding to a comment from one banker who said her institution might opt to do only non-QM lending, just for simplicity’s sake, Alba said, “Wanted or not, this may start leaning into being the new subprime.” He added...


June 7, 2013 - Inside MBS & ABS

Ocwen-Serviced Deals Take Retroactive Losses Due to Accounting for Principal Forbearance

At least 170 non-agency MBS serviced by Ocwen Financial took combined losses of more than $1.0 billion in May due to accounting for principal forbearance that occurred before July 2012. The reporting issue allowed mezzanine bonds to continue receiving interest payments, and industry participants are concerned that the accounting could be an issue on other non-agency MBS. Moody’s Investors Service said the newly realized losses relate to loss mitigation by Homeward Residential. Ocwen acquired Homeward at the end of 2012. The servicing transfer prompted a disclosure by Ocwen to Wells Fargo, the trustee on the deals previously serviced by Homeward, in the May remittance reports on the deals. Wells said...


May 31, 2013 - Inside Nonconforming Markets

Subprime Volume Indicators and ABX Prices

A half page of subprime and jumbo data.


May 31, 2013 - Inside Nonconforming Markets

News Briefs

Legislation to reform the government-sponsored enterprises is starting to appear in the Senate. Last week, Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-GA, introduced S. 1048, similar to the “Mortgage Finance Act” he introduced in 2011. The bill would revoke the charters of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac upon resolution of their obligations and create a new Mortgage Finance Agency for securitization. Sens. Bob Corker, R-TN, and Mark Warner, D-VA, are also working on a bill that would replace Fannie and ... [Includes two briefs]


May 30, 2013 - Inside Mortgage Finance

Wells Fargo, HSBC and Others Step Up Auctions Of Nonperforming Mortgages, Prices on the Rise

The long-awaited boom in nonperforming loan sales may finally be here, as megabanks such as Wells Fargo, Citigroup and HSBC have begun testing investor appetites by offering large packages in the open market. According to investors and advisors who play in the space, Wells recently auctioned off an $800 million NPL package and HSBC sold a $750 million portfolio. Recently, Popular Bank said that it entered...


May 23, 2013 - Inside Mortgage Finance

Originations Fade in Major Product Types During Early 2013, But Jumbo Still Near Cyclical High

The two biggest components of the residential mortgage market – conventional loans below the conforming loan limits and government-insured mortgages – saw measurable declines in new originations in early 2013, according to a new Inside Mortgage Finance analysis and ranking. The conventional-conforming market – nearly all of which is financed through Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac securitization – fell to an estimated $333.0 billion during the first quarter of 2013. That was down 5.4 percent from the fourth quarter of last year, but the sector still accounted for a hefty 66.6 percent of total originations during the period. The conventional-conforming market share hasn’t changed...[Includes two data charts]


May 17, 2013 - Inside FHA Lending

FHA Delinquencies Down, Foreclosure Starts Up

FHA loans saw an improvement in delinquencies even as the mortgage industry reported an increase in the overall delinquency rate for single-family mortgages at the end of the first quarter of 2013, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s latest national delinquency survey. Among loan types, the FHA saw the largest improvement on a seasonally adjusted basis as its delinquency rate dropped to 10.97 percent in the first quarter, down 20 basis points from the previous quarter. This was good news for an agency that has been battling to reduce losses and stabilize its Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund. However, the refreshing change was ...


May 17, 2013 - Inside Nonconforming Markets

Subprime Volume Indicators and ABX Prices

A half page of subprime and jumbo data.


May 17, 2013 - Inside Nonconforming Markets

News Briefs

Deephaven Mortgage, a new subprime lender headed by a former Goldman Sachs official, is seeking warehouse lines of credit, according to one banker. The banker, requesting anonymity, said his institution was approached by the North Carolina-based Deephaven in the past few weeks but decided to pass on the credit. The warehouse lender said he believes that, for now, the traditional warehouse community will not extend credit to subprime lenders, even if they have high downpayment requirements and [Incluides two briefs]


May 17, 2013 - Inside Nonconforming Markets

GSEs Set to Sell Some Non-Agency MBS Holdings

After years of holding onto investments in non-agency mortgage-backed securities even as prices declined significantly, the government-sponsored enterprises are preparing to sell some of their $101.5 billion in non-agency MBS holdings. Freddie Mac is offering $1.0 billion in non-agency MBS for sale with plans to unload as much as $5.0 billion this year, if pricing for the securities remains strong. A spokesman for the GSE said the sales are part of an effort to meet goals set by ... [Includes one data chart]


May 17, 2013 - Inside Nonconforming Markets

Ocwen Dominates Subprime Servicing; Servicers Eye $300+ Billion in Transfers

Boosted by acquisitions from Homeward Residential and Residential Capital, Ocwen Financial handled a whopping 33.7 percent share of the subprime mortgages outstanding at the end of the first quarter of 2013, according to a new ranking by Inside Nonconforming Markets. Three major special servicers are in negotiations to acquire more than $300 billion in unpaid principal balance of mortgage servicing each in the next year. While the servicers have broadened their focus to include ... [Includes one data chart]


Poll

What should be done to “reform” Fannie Mae’s and Freddie Mac’s position in the mortgage market?

Wind the two GSEs down as quickly as possible while setting up some new government guarantee program for conservatively underwritten conventional mortgages.

25%

Let the two GSEs continue to funnel money to the Treasury while developing a plan to take them out of conservatorship as private companies.

52%

Do nothing since the housing market is too dependent on the two GSEs and Congress is unlikely to agree on a major change in the status quo anytime soon.

23%

Housing Pulse