Investors with nearly $1 trillion of holdings of non-agency mortgage-backed securities are concerned about the Obama administration’s latest loan modification proposal, according to Tom Deutsch, executive director of the American Securitization Forum.

The CFPB’s new qualified mortgage rules will frustrate the market and adversely impact traditional supply and demand principles that could slow the sector’s recovery, according to scholars at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank in Washington, DC. “Neither consumers nor creditors emerge as winners,” write research fellows Diane Katz and David John in an issue brief on the new QM rules, issued earlier this month. Irresponsible lending did in fact play...

Some top legal minds expect to see more investigations, and perhaps settlements, brought by the Residential MBS Working Group in the months ahead, and they’ll likely be flavored by interagency turf wars and the political ambitions of the elected officials that are helping to steer the group’s actions. “Just on the basis of prosecutorial rivalry, you can expect there will be further activity in this area,” said Jeremiah Buckley, partner in the BuckleySandler law firm, during a webinar discussion this week on the working group’s activities. Andrew Schilling, former chief of the Civil Division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York...

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac saw a noticeable decline in Home Affordable Refinance Program activity during the final months of 2012, according to a new Inside MBS & ABS analysis. At a time when overall refinance business rose 11.0 percent at the two government-sponsored enterprises, deliveries of HARP loans fell 6.9 percent. The biggest decline was in issuance of MBS specifically geared for underwater mortgages. A total of $62.28 billion of high loan-to-value ratio mortgages were securitized...[Includes two data charts]

Outside investors poking around the mortgage banking industry for a possible franchise deal first and foremost want the companies they’re courting to have Ginnie Mae approvals. “If you have the Ginnie eagle, it’s golden,” said Chuck Klein, managing director for mergers and acquisitions for Mortgage Banking Solutions. “Retained Ginnie servicing is what it’s all about.” Klein, of course, isn’t...

Despite a surge in agency MBS issuance in 2012, new production of agency-backed real estate mortgage investment conduits fell 19.4 percent from 2011 levels, according to a new analysis and ranking by Inside MBS & ABS. Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae issued a combined $292.5 billion in REMICs last year, with Fannie accounting for 44.1 percent of the market. Fannie was the only agency of the three to increase its REMIC production compared to 2011 levels, managing a 6.0 percent increase. Agency REMIC volume fell...[Includes one data chart]

Covered bond investors are taking a more flexible view of ratings and other characteristics associated with these investments, according to a survey conducted last month by Fitch Ratings. “Continuing a trend discovered during last year’s survey, the results … reveal that investors are increasingly willing to innovate, not only in terms of bond characteristics, but also in terms of rating,” analysts at Fitch said. For example, “a remarkable 91 percent of investors declared...

Lawyers involved in securitization issues said they are feeling both anxiety and relief regarding regulatory issues in 2013. The feelings have been prompted by the Dodd-Frank Act with the greatest looming issue being risk-retention requirements. “To say that there is a lot of anxiety with this rule cannot be overstated and I really think it’s an impediment to some asset classes really getting traction in 2013, particularly mortgages,” Jon Van Gorp, a partner at the law firm of Mayer Brown, said on an outlook conference call late last week. “No one knows...

The volume and market share of non-agency jumbo mortgage-backed security issuance increased significantly in 2012 compared with other post-crisis years. However, volume remains well below activity seen even before the 2005 boom in non-agency MBS issuance. Some $3.46 billion in non-agency jumbo MBS were issued last year, according to the Inside Mortgage Finance MBS Database, more than four times the volume issued in 2011. Redwood Trust issued six deals last year totaling ... [Includes one data chart]

After including a significant amount of ARMs in its first deal of 2013, Redwood Trust relied largely on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages for its second non-agency jumbo mortgage-backed security of the year, according to presale reports released this week. The $666.13 million Sequoia Mortgage Trust 2013-2 is set to receive a triple-A rating with characteristics largely similar to other recent issuance from the real estate investment trust. While ARMs accounted for 21.0 percent of the dollar volume of SEMT 2013-1 ...