“I would say that [MSR] prices are reasonable now,” said one advisor who spoke under the condition his name not be used. “The bid/ask spread has come down a little bit.”
The Association of Mortgage Investors last week urged the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to address ongoing issues raised by the so-called TRID mortgage disclosure rule. “The recent evidence is that the rule, while extremely well-intentioned, has resulted in a climate of legal uncertainty and is chilling private investment in the U.S. mortgage market,” Chris Katopis, executive director of the AMI, wrote to CFPB Director Richard Cordray. The rule took effect...
The Blackstone Group, which has several investments in mortgage finance and real estate, is contemplating taking its single-family rental business public. It’s just a matter of when. Late this week, a Blackstone media official declined to discuss the topic of an initial public offering of its SFR business, which was first reported by The Financial Times and mentioned in an investor note from Compass Point Research & Trading. The IPO has...
As interest-only mortgages originated in the run-up to the financial crisis reset, performance has varied depending on the extent of borrowers’ payment shock, according to analysts at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. The analysts noted that delinquencies increase significantly when an IO borrowers’ monthly payment more than doubles, while some borrowers with strong credit or low loan-to-value ratios have been able to refinance or receive a loan modification. IOs include a ...
Policy changes are underway to prevent nonprofit groups from gaining an unfair advantage over legitimate investors in purchasing real estate-owned properties under the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s single-family property disposition program. An audit conducted by the HUD inspector general found that certain nonprofits were acting as investors while purchasing REO homes through HUD’s distressed-asset sales program. While this may seem to be a case of nonprofits gaming the system, the IG said no regulations were violated because program requirements did not explicitly bar nonprofits from acting as investors during the exclusive listing period. HUD’s distressed-asset sales program is designed to clear the department’s REO inventory in a manner that expands homeownership opportunities, strengthens neighborhoods and communities, and ensures a ...
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