Redwood Trust took three months off from issuing jumbo MBS but came back with something of a doozy this week: a $306.05 million deal that will include some loans that don’t meet standards for qualified mortgages and some loans that weren’t subject to third-party due diligence reviews. Sequoia Mortgage Trust 2014-2 is set to receive AAA ratings with credit enhancement of 7.75 percent on the top-rated tranche. While the credit enhancement requirements are somewhat high, a jumbo MBS from Redwood in November had even higher credit enhancement levels, suggesting that the non-QMs and lack of full due diligence aren’t a major concern. Only three of the 438 mortgages to be included in the deal are...

However, compared to the same quarter a year ago, loan production at Wells took it on the chin, falling a bloodcurdling 59 percent.

The agencies securitized $122 billion of purchase mortgages during the second quarter of this year, a 16.6 percent sequential increase.

New GSE repurchase requirements are now in effect, including the “MI stand-in” option, which Fannie defines as “the full mortgage insurance benefit that would have been payable under the original mortgage insurance policy if the mortgage loan liquidates.”

“We’ve got approximately $72 million [of HARP refinance business that can be done] in this metropolitan area," said FHFA director Mel Watt about Chicago. "People won’t come in and say I want that money.”

Fitch Ratings has consolidated a number of key rating drivers into updated master rating criteria for residential MBS backed by newly originated and seasoned residential mortgages. The latest report replaces the July 2013 RMBS criteria, and while no material changes have been made to the overarching process, a few tweaks have been made. The important rating drivers that were incorporated include...

So, you doubt our 2Q origination estimate? Here’s what an executive from a top-five warehouse bank told us: “We’re experiencing a significant pick up in outstandings."

The rebound in new business at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac during the second quarter of 2014 was fueled by a hefty increase in purchase-mortgage activity, but it also featured clear shifts in the volume of loans coming from different kinds of lenders. A new Inside Mortgage Trends analysis of loan-level data on mortgage-backed securities issued by the two government-sponsored enterprises shows that nonbank lenders continued to ... [Includes 3 data charts]

The decline in refinance activity in the past year has prompted a closer look at differences in interest rates as lenders compete for borrowers. Lenders that don’t offer the lowest rate suggest that there’s more to the mortgage decision than just a low interest rate, particularly because rates are at historic lows. LendingTree, a firm that allows potential borrowers to compare loan offers, recently launched an ongoing study to track the difference between ...

The next gold rush in the mortgage industry may be home loans that fall outside the legal safe harbor for qualified mortgages under new rules that took effect in January. And like any bonanza, it’s hard to tell how big the mother lode is. According to Deutsche Bank Securities, it could be a staggering $600 billion a year, but that estimate comes with a lot of caveats. For starters, Deutsche Bank estimated that about $52 billion of 2013 mortgage originations were ...