With bond prices expected to fall further and interest rates headed north, analysts who cover mortgage-investing real estate investment trusts are sharpening their knives on the sector. The general consensus is that share prices are going nowhere fast and returns are no longer attractive. A new report on mortgage REITs from Keefe, Bruyette & Woods doesn’t mince words: “Sentiment on the mREIT sector remains pretty poor, and we don’t anticipate 2Q15 results to do much to improve that. We’re not expecting a horrible quarter, but we anticipate slight disappointment along more or less all relevant dimensions.” Although many mortgage REITs have yet to report second-quarter earnings, the early expectations are...

Angel Oak Home Loans is still contemplating issuing a security backed by non-agency, non-prime mortgages, but the company’s original self-imposed deadline of July is not going to happen, according to officials familiar with the Atlanta-based originator. As reported by Inside MBS & ABS last month, Angel Oak had been shopping around a roughly $100 million package of nonprime whole loans to several investors. It’s unclear whether any of the portfolio traded. The fact that the lender had been trying...

Market factors are more favorably disposed toward non-agency MBS in the second half of the year than for agency bonds, according to a mid-year review and outlook from Deutsche Bank. “For the second half of 2015, we are cautiously optimistic for the non-agency MBS market, given the favorable fundamentals and technicals,” said Deutsche Bank analysts, who expect home price appreciation and servicer practices to continue to be the two biggest drivers of the MBS credit. On the technical front, the most important factor that affected legacy RMBS is...

JPMorgan Chase last week ended six years of litigation by agreeing to a $388 million settlement to resolve allegations that the bank misled investors about the quality of pre-crisis MBS they had purchased. Still requiring court approval, the settlement would conclude one of the last remaining MBS purchaser class actions arising out of the financial crisis, according to plaintiff attorneys. The suit was filed...

Freddie Mac priced a risk-sharing transaction this week that’s structured much like a non-agency jumbo mortgage-backed security that has the advantage of the government-sponsored enterprise’s guaranty and oversight of servicing practices. Freddie Mac Whole Loan Securities Trust, Series 2015 SC01, will include $278 million in senior certificates guaranteed by Freddie and approximately $23 million in unguaranteed subordinate certificates. The deal is backed by ...

Two nonbanks, led by New Penn Financial, were able to outpace First Republic Bank in contributing to jumbo mortgage-backed securities issued in the second quarter of 2015, according to a ranking and analysis by Inside Nonconforming Markets. New Penn was identified as contributing $145.80 million to the $3.11 billion in jumbo MBS issued during the second quarter. Quicken Loans followed with $139.43 million in contributions. First Republic Bank ... [Includes two data charts]

Investors interested in the jumbo mortgage-backed security from JPMorgan Chase that’s set to be issued next week received new disclosures with sometimes confusing information thanks to a rule from the Securities and Exchange Commission. JPMorgan Mortgage Trust 2015-4 will have a balance of $388.34 million, according to presale reports published last week by Kroll Bond Rating Agency and Moody’s Investors Service. A week before the presale reports ...

Hatteras Financial has ramped up its efforts to acquire jumbo mortgages and plans to issue a jumbo mortgage-backed security before the end of the year, according to officials at the real estate investment trust. “Our portfolio plus commitments of jumbo [adjustable-rate mortgages] today is estimated to be about $258 million, so we’re making progress and nearing scale where we can consider securitization,” Benjamin Hough, Hatteras’ president and COO, said this week ...

Parkside Lending recently “re-introduced” a non-qualified-mortgage product aimed at financing for investment properties. The lender said the “new and improved” Parkside Collateral Loan is available via the wholesale channel. Parkside said there is no borrower-related debt-to-income ratio calculation for the product. Instead, qualification is based on the property DTI ratio with a maximum of 90 percent. The loan allows for credit scores as low as ... [Includes three briefs]

The Federal Home Loan Bank Mortgage Partnership Finance program has announced its first security issuance with a Ginnie Mae guarantee. The $5 million security is backed by home loans originated by community banks and credit unions through the MPF Government MBS product. The Mortgage Bankers Association welcomed the new MBS, seeing it as another opportunity for all lenders to access the capital markets directly, reducing costs and increasing originations. “Many community banks use the FHLB MPF program to sell conventional mortgages into the secondary market,” observed Ron Haynie, senior vice president at the Independent Community Bankers of America. “This expansion in aggregating and securitizing government loans provides community banks with the opportunity to reach more borrowers, especially in rural and small-town markets, and to safely sell those loans to ...