bivey@imfpubs.com, pmuolo@imfpubs.com 

Sprout Mortgage, Melville, NY, introduced three non-qualified mortgage products last week, a sign that there’s hope for the sector after all, despite securitizations being on life support.

The privately held wholesale lender looks to be the first of the large non-QM lenders to have resumed originations after disruptions caused by the coronavirus.

Meanwhile, the secondary market for non-agency whole loans remains weak, at least if you’re trying to unload product.

In a new market analysis, Todd Dahlke, a principal in RAMS Mortgage Capital, notes that some nonprime sellers are “hoping for brighter days and better pricing in the near future. This is most prevalent in the non-QM space where many sellers have held out for pricing in the mid 90s.”

The trading veteran added: “We don’t see prices climbing back to these levels.”