Consumer education and community outreach by lenders have kept VA originations on an upward trend in the first quarter of 2015, according to Inside FHA/VA lenders ended the first quarter with $36.5 billion in total originations, a 5.8 percent increase from the fourth quarter of 2014 and up a whopping 86.0 percent from the same period last year. Purchase loans comprised 61.5 percent of VA loans produced during the quarter while streamlined refinance loans accounted for the rest. Seventeen lenders, including two of the top five VA producers, focused a significant portion of their first-quarter activities on refinancing. The rest either led with their purchase business or had a balanced mixof purchase and refi loans. Top-ranked Freedom Mortgage’s total originations were 90.5 percent refis, which officials attributed to lower interest rates and a robust team of ... [1 chart].
Underwriting standards on jumbo mortgages tightened slightly in May compared with the previous month, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. The results reversed six consecutive months of looser jumbo underwriting. Two-thirds of the 182 banks recently surveyed by the American Bankers Association said their originations in 2014 included non-qualified mortgages. Non-QMs accounted for 10 percent of the banks’ originations ... [Incluides three briefs]
The Supreme Court last week issued a ruling that favors second-lien holders in cases involving negative equity and Chapter 7 bankruptcy. Industry analysts caution that Supreme Court justices look eager to rule differently if a similar case reaches the court. The cases considered were Bank of America v. Caulkett and Bank of America v. Toledo-Cardona. In both cases, borrowers in a negative equity position on their second liens sought to void the second liens ...
Redwood Trust can now acquire jumbo mortgages of up to $1.5 million from members of the Federal Home Loan Banks under the Mortgage Partnership Finance Direct program. That’s more than double the previous limit – $729,750 – and will significantly expand the pool of potential mortgages that Redwood will acquire. Previously, MPF Direct targeted the narrow range of loans with balances between $625,500, which is the current high-cost conforming loan limit, and ...
Lenders offering nonprime loans that do not meet the qualified-mortgage standard have run into difficulties generating volume because weak secondary-market demand has made pricing on the loans unattractive to borrowers. Jeff Lemieux, until recently a vice president at Bayview Asset Management, said volume in nonprime non-QMs is extremely weak across the industry. “The consumer is resistant to the pricing,” he said. Lemieux said credit-impaired borrowers feel that ...
Originations of adjustable-rate mortgages declined in the first quarter of 2015 as interest rate trends continued to incentivize many borrowers to select fixed-rate mortgages. Some $41.0 billion in ARMs were originated in the first three months of 2015, according to estimates by Inside Nonconforming Markets, down 10.9 percent from the previous quarter and down 6.8 percent from the first quarter of 2014. Many of the mortgages are ... [Includes one data chart]
There is good news for investors in private student-loan ABS these days, according to the latest market intelligence from industry analysts. Student loan performance was healthy in the first quarter, and more growth is expected going forward. Continued strong performance trends were seen in repayment, delinquencies and charge-offs for private student loans through March 31, 2015, according to the semi-annual private student-loan performance report from MeasureOne, which was released earlier this week. Among the key findings, year-over-year delinquencies continued...
The average bid on the benchmark Fannie Mae 30-year 3.50 percent MBS fell to 102.2 this week compared to 104.5 earlier in the month, leaving some market watchers feeling sick to their stomachs. The general fear is that MBS prices may fall further over the short term as interest rates rise. The question for many boils down to the basics: Where will mortgages settle? As Inside MBS & ABS went to press this week, the yield on the 10-year Treasury reached...
Securitization rates for newly originated home mortgages remained at historically low levels during the first quarter of 2015, according to a new Inside MBS & ABS market analysis. The ratio of new MBS issuance to primary-market mortgage originations was just 71.6 percent during the first quarter. That’s down from 75.4 percent for all of last year and the record high of 88.8 percent back in 2009. The slowdown in securitization rates is...[Includes one data table]
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