Servicers are increasingly executing their clean-up call options on vintage non-agency MBS, paying off investors at par and realizing profits by liquidating real estate owned properties. This year has been the most active year for clean-up calls on non-agency MBS since 2007, according to analysts at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. And that’s before the largest servicer of subprime MBS has taken any significant action on clean-up calls. In August, Ocwen Financial announced...
Professional money managers see the U.S. economy on a sounder footing over the next 12 months, with expectations of little or no gain among mortgage-related assets over the next year, according to a new Fitch Ratings survey of fixed-income investors. Opinions about the credit conditions of mortgage investment vehicles in the near term mostly focused on modest, rather than severe, deterioration. In this segment, investors were mostly optimistic about prime mortgage-backed bonds. Overall, the survey found...
The mortgage industry cannot and should not wait for Congress to get around to a legislative solution to the government-sponsored enterprises when much of what is necessary can be accomplished administratively, according to experts at a forum hosted by the Urban Institute and CoreLogic. Andrew Davidson, president of Andrew Davidson & Co., noted that among the lessons of this year’s failure to launch a Senate GSE reform bill is that lawmakers find it easier to agree on a set of principles for a mortgage finance system than on the system’s design. With legislation a long shot before the 2016 presidential elections, Davidson said...
Pricing for jumbo mortgage-backed securities has improved in recent months, prompting an increase in issuance from some firms, but bank demand remains robust. “Although the difference has narrowed, our whole-loan sale execution for most jumbo loans continues to be more attractive than our securitization execution as a result of strong demand from banks,” Brett Nicholas, president of Redwood Trust, said this week during a call with investors. In the third quarter of 2014, Redwood issued ...
Two Harbors Investment is working to increase its non-agency conduit activity, launching a nonprime product along with a low-downpayment jumbo for high-quality borrowers. Officials at the real estate investment trust said Two Harbors also plans to be a regular issuer of non-agency mortgage-backed securities. “It has been clear to us for some time that the market has a need for products like this, and we are excited to be able to extend our reach as a capital provider to these segments ...
Originations by nonbanks of loans that don’t meet standards for qualified mortgages are off to a slow start, according to industry participants. “There is obviously a lot of noise in the area, a lot of announcements about people getting involved. And from what we have seen, there is nothing of any size and replicable flow that seems readily securitizable,” Michael Commaroto, CEO of Apollo Residential Mortgage, said this week during a call with investors. He said ...
JPMorgan Chase had the largest amount of holdings of non-agency mortgage-backed securities – by far – among banks and thrifts at the end of the second quarter of 2014, according to a new ranking and analysis by Inside Nonconforming Markets. Chase held $44.53 billion in non-agency MBS at the end of June, accounting for 34.5 percent of all non-agency MBS held by banks and thrifts. TD Bank, the second-ranked holder of non-agency MBS, had a ... [Includes one data chart]
Ginnie Mae servicing bumped up slightly in the third quarter after an uneventful prior quarter as FHA purchase activity continued to drag, according to Inside FHA Lending’s analysis of agency data. Servicing volume rose quarter over quarter by 1.4 percent. On an annual basis, volume increased 4.6 percent from the same period a year ago. Ginnie Mae servicers ended the quarter with a total of $1.48 trillion in unpaid principal balance, up from $1.46 trillion in the previous quarter. The top three servicers saw volume drop on both quarterly and year-over-year bases. Wells Fargo remained as top servicer of Ginnie Mae mortgage-backed securities, closing out the quarter with $422.4 million, down 0.8 percent from the previous quarter and down 0.6 percent from the prior year. The mega-servicer dominated the Ginnie market with a 28.6 percent market share. JPMorgan Chase carved out a 10.1 percent market share with ... [1 chart]
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