S&P Global was the most active rating service in the non-mortgage ABS market during the first nine months, having graded $95.88 billion in new issuance, or 58.5 percent of the market, according to a new Inside MBS & ABS analysis.

The mortgage securitization rate edged up toward more normal levels during the third quarter, but the post-crisis slump in non-agency MBS activity continued to dampen the market.

More first-time homebuyers took advantage of the government-sponsored enterprises’ 97 percent loan-to-value mortgage products this year – to the point where they likely took away market share from the FHA program.

Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae issued a combined $50.61 billion of real estate mort-gage investment conduit deals during the third quarter, a solid 19.0 percent increase from the previous three-month period.

It’s been an ugly year for retail chain bankruptcies, which means investors in commercial MBS backed by such properties are continuing to feel queasy about some of the bonds they own.

Moody’s Investors Service erred in a number of its ratings of Freddie Mac’s structured multifam-ily MBS pass-through securities because it failed to take into account the guarantees provided by the government-sponsored enterprise on classes of its K-deals.

Meanwhile, Quicken owner Dan Gilbert recently broke ground on a new skyscraper in downtown Detroit, which will cost roughly $900 million.

The FHFA noted that divergence in prepayment rates could occur if the GSEs fail to align programs, policies, and practices…

Initial capitalization rates for new secondary market guarantors may not be as steep as some might think…

The statute requires the GSEs to serve three specific underserved markets: manufactured housing, affordable housing preservation, and rural housing by increasing secondary market liquidity...