Non-agency MBS issuers are off to a fast start this year, with four deals marketing this week. The MBS are backed by non-agency jumbos and GSE-eligible mortgages for investment properties.

Industry participants are confident that the non-agency market can absorb some GSE mortgages that will otherwise be subject to higher fees; SFA highlights ABS LIBOR complication; Credit Suisse modifies MBS issued in 2019; New Residential set to issue single-family rental securitization.

Alanna McCargo’s appointment marks a new era for the agency, which had been without permanent leadership since 2017.

ABS East attendance declined this year; non-agency MBS issuers saw weaker demand in November as supply spiked; GSE g-fees didn’t vary much based on seller size in 2020.

In a familiar refrain, participants in the non-QM market suggest the sector is ready for takeoff. Still, technology in the non-QM market lags compared with the GSEs.

Issuers of prime non-agency MBS are increasingly removing loans subject to third-party due diligence reviews from the final MBS pools. Kroll Bond Rating Agency said the practice is a slippery slope.

QM revisions not on CFPB’s agenda; regulators leave risk-retention standards as is; forbearance on non-agency loans increase; non-agency MBS issuance update; Deephaven allowing remote appraisals for non-QMs.

Six federal regulators tasked with overseeing risk-retention requirements for residential MBS decided to leave the standards unchanged after a two-year-long review.

Some investors in MBS and ABS are ready to discard data collected in the past two years due to distortions from actions by the federal government. One problem: projecting asset performance moving forward.

Analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods expect prepayment rates on agency MBS to decline further in 2022 as fewer borrowers have incentives to refi.