Two months back Macquaire Equities Research issued a report declaring that investing in agency MBS “is like playing a game of chicken.” The analytics firm was speaking mainly about REITs, advising its clients to “take the dividends and run.” Its chief concern was that MBS investing REITs aren’t diversified. “We spoke with agency REIT management teams and found that while the current environment is challenging, for the most part they remain committed to the agency MBS asset class,” wrote Macquarie analyst Jasper Burch. Earlier this month, hedge fund giant Cerberus Capital filed...
Banks are likely to pursue more bulk sales this year and the next to rid their books of nonperforming real estate assets, which could attract investors looking for better yield, according to Fitch Investors Service. Successful bulk sales will allow more banks to concentrate on their core banking services, while reducing their costs of holding nonperforming real estate loans on their balance sheets, said Fitch analysts. Sales at banks with high volumes of nonperforming commercial-related loans also are expected to pick up over the next 12 to 18 months, particularly as many commercial real estate (CRE) loans originated before the financial crisis near maturity, they added. Investors such as hedge funds, high-yield asset managers and other lightly regulated entities seeking higher returns in a low interest-rate environment have caused...
Redwood Trust plans to more than triple the dollar amount of non-agency jumbo mortgage-backed securities it issues this year compared with its issuance from 2012, according to comments this week from officials at the real estate investment trust. Redwood also plans to securitize conforming jumbos and even aggregate conforming loans to sell to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The REIT’s goal for 2013 is to issue about $7.0 billion in non-agency MBS. While potential competitors struggled to ...
JPMorgan Chase is close to selling a non-agency jumbo mortgage-backed security, according to traders and jumbo executives familiar with the company’s activities. Chase is treating the MBS as a test deal – which has been delayed – though it could close by the end of this month. A spokesman for Chase declined to comment on the matter but a source at the company confirmed that a deal is in the works. Chase might issue the deal as a private placement or the company might keep the security for its own portfolio and ...
Firms are looking to issue new non-agency mortgage-backed securities with looser representation and warranty standards than most post-crisis issuance, according to Fitch Ratings. The rating service issued a report this week critical of looser reps and warrants and pointed to Redwood Trust as an issuer with high standards for reps and warrants. “We believe that transactions with these more aggressive rep and warranty provisions have the potential to weaken a transaction and effectively reduce ...
Federal regulators said they are nearly finished writing the final rule on risk retention in non-agency mortgage securitizations, including a revised definition for qualified residential mortgages. Issuance of the rule was delayed until the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau finished its ability-to-repay rule which set standards for qualified mortgages. “QM coming out really now does allow us to finish it,” Federal Reserve Governor Daniel Tarullo said of the risk-retention rule ...
Federal regulators are under pressure from Congress and others to bring more mortgage-related lawsuits, particularly involving “Wall Street banks.” Obama administration officials and former employees of the regulators suggest that more lawsuits are likely, including a focus on non-agency mortgage-backed securities. The latest calls for lawsuits came last week from Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-MA. At a hearing by the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, she questioned how much ...
A modest decline in FHA endorsements of jumbo loans in the fourth quarter of 2012 could presage further declines this year, following the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s recent proposal to raise the downpayment requirement to 5 percent, from 3.5 percent, for loans above $625,500. The FHA already has raised its jumbo mortgage insurance premiums to 1.55 percent annually and increased the monthly premiums on new, non-jumbo FHA mortgages by 10 basis points. The agency retained the 3.5 percent downpayment for new forward mortgages below $625,500. The increased premiums are ... [2 charts]
NCOA Booklet Required Reading for HECM Borrowers. The National Council on Aging has announced the availability of the 2013 version of “Use Your Home to Stay at Home,”, the official reverse mortgage booklet approved by the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The booklet is designed to help older homeowners understands the pros and cons of a reverse mortgage. Federal law requires that all individuals who are considering a reverse mortgage go through pre-counseling by a HUD-approved counseling agency and receive a copy of the NCOA guide. The NCOA also offers other ...
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