Some MBS investors and industry analysts were taken aback when the latest prepayment rates on the government-sponsored enterprises’ risk-transfer deals were reported last week. The spike in prepayments was due to low interest rates in January, with the risk-sharing deals more susceptible to prepayments than agency MBS overall due to the collateral included in them. Prepayment rates were particularly high on Freddie Mac Structured Agency Credit Risk transactions. Analysts at Barclays Capital said M1 tranches on STACR 2014-DN3 and STACR 2014-HQ1 experienced large pay-downs in March due to “seemingly high” prepayments. STACR 2014-DN3 M1 paid down by 18.0 percent in March and STACR 2014-HQ1 M1 paid down by 8.4 percent. “While the jump in prepayment speeds could be expected after the rates rally earlier this year, the magnitude of the jump may seem...
Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae securitized $151.1 billion of refi loans during the first quarter, a 34.8 percent increase from the end of 2014.
The integrated disclosure rule from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau continues to shake up the mortgage industry months before it even takes effect. Particularly unsettled are settlement agents, who hope they continue to stay relevant in the new world of mortgage originations, but fear their role will be diminished if not rendered obsolete. “The lender is ceding less authority to the closing agent but they are still letting them close the transactions with greater supervision,” said one industry insider. “Could that change? There is a fear it might, but that is not how it is now.” Joseph Ventrone, vice president for regulatory and industry relations at the National Association of Realtors, put...
The nation’s two largest nonbank servicers – Ocwen Financial and Nationstar Mortgage – have relatively low replenishment rates, meaning it’s harder for them to replace portfolio runoff through new production, according to a new analysis from Inside Mortgage Finance. Based on full-year origination and servicing figures for 2014, Ocwen was only originating enough new loans to replace 1.03 percent of its servicing portfolio. Nationstar had a somewhat stronger replenishment rate of 4.46 percent. In the overall market, 2014 originations of $1.24 trillion equaled...[Includes one data chart]
If preapproval letters from certain lenders are routinely unreliable, real estate agents tend to suggest that homebuyers apply for a mortgage with a different lender, according to new research by Campbell Surveys, based on a national survey sponsored by Inside Mortgage Finance Publications. “Agents are sometimes skeptical of mortgage providers selected without their consultation,” said Tom Popik, research director of Campbell Surveys. Before working with a potential homebuyer, real estate agents largely prefer...
According to an informational circular on Angel Oak Mortgage Solutions, some of the top executives at the firm used to work for Southstar Funding in Sandy Spring, GA.
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