The Treasury Department and the Structured Finance Industry Group announced separate initiatives last week aimed at increasing activity in the non-agency market. Both efforts plan to round up a variety of industry participants to work through issues that have prevented significant issuance of new non-agency mortgage-backed securities. In the absence of an apparent leader, Treasury plans to coordinate a series of conversations with relevant regulators, market participants and other stakeholders to help ...
The risks that come with originating loans that dont receive qualified mortgage protections can be significant. However, industry participants suggest that low-risk non-QMs can be priced at levels similar to the interest rates available on QMs. While interest-only mortgages dont meet the Consumer Financial Protection Bureaus standards for QMs, a number of banks plan to continue to offer IOs to well-qualified borrowers. Analysts at Barclays Capital noted that the loans dont present lenders with ...
Mortgages included in new non-agency mortgage-backed securities that fall outside of the safe harbor for qualified mortgages will be assigned higher loss expectations, according to criteria released last week by Standard & Poors. Other rating services have released similar criteria, with credit-enhancement requirements expected to be higher for non-agency MBS that include loans other than safe harbor QMs. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureaus ability-to-repay rule established a number of ...
While the net supply of non-agency mortgage-backed securities continues to run off, holdings by banks and thrifts actually increased in the third quarter of 2013, according to a new ranking and analysis by Inside Nonconforming Markets. The entities held $145.83 billion in non-agency MBS at the end of the third quarter of 2013, up 2.2 percent from the previous quarter. Banks and thrifts held 17.8 percent of non-agency MBS outstanding at the end of the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase is the ... [Includes one data chart]
Borrowers looking to purchase a home with a loan balance above conforming loan limits have a number of financing options, according to real estate agents across the country. However, some potential homebuyers are opting to avoid jumbo mortgages by paying with cash or putting enough down to receive a conforming mortgage. Tom Popik, research director of Campbell Surveys, said respondents to the latest Campbell/Inside Mortgage Finance HousingPulse Tracking Survey reported that jumbo mortgage availability ...
Cove Financial is targeting borrowers who cant qualify for agency mortgages and offering them a unique rent-to-own option. The lenders Mortgage Alternative Program involves a process that looks a lot like the purchase-mortgage process but instead gives a borrower time to rebuild credit before purchasing a home. Its for people who have a downpayment but dont currently qualify for a mortgage, Patrick Flanagan, CEO of Cove Financial, said of the MAP. A borrower working with Cove goes through a ...
Ocwen Financial agreed to purchase the servicing rights on $39.2 billion of mortgages from Wells Fargo. The mortgages included in the deal are largely in non-agency mortgage-backed securities. Ocwen will pay $2.7 billion. The Obama administration renewed calls for Congress to approve legislation that would establish a refinance program for non-agency borrowers. The administration has been pushing for a non-agency refi program since at least early 2012 but Republicans in Congress ... [Includes three briefs]
Spurred by low interest rates and strong house price appreciation, Home Equity Conversion Mortgage loan originations rose 20.3 percent during the first nine months of 2013 compared to the same period the year before, according to Inside FHA Lendings analysis of FHA snapshot data. HECM lenders reported $11.8 billion in total originations over the nine-month period, with initial principal amount at loan origination totaling $7.8 billion. Purchase reverse mortgage loans comprised 94.5 percent while fixed-rate mortgages accounted for ... [1 chart]
The FHA saw its share of the first-time homebuyer market drop slightly in 2013 because of higher fees and stringent mortgage insurance requirements, according to the latest Campbell/Inside Mortgage Finance HousingPulse Tracking Survey. First-time homebuyers still comprise a solid chunk of FHAs traditional base, but there has been some erosion in the past year, the survey of real estate agents found. The decline was due to changes implemented by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, which resulted in higher mortgage insurance premiums for FHA loans. The agency also ...
The Department of Housing and Urban Development will accept electronic signatures on FHA loan documents provided the lender complies with the departments latest e-sign guidelines. E-signatures are voluntary under current HUD rules. Effective immediately, however, HUD will accept such signatures on FHA paperwork relating to mortgage insurance, servicing and loss mitigation, FHA insurance claims, HUD real estate-owned sales contracts and related addenda as long as they meet the new requirements. The new policy applies to all FHA forward mortgages and Home Equity Conversion Mortgage loans. HUD will treat eligible e-signatures as ...