Driven by demand for EBOs and non-agency products, trading desks were quite active in 2021. The new year is shaping up to be a bright one as well.

Addison, TX-based Mid America Mortgage will fund its downpayment assistance program for low- and moderate-income borrowers through a gestation repo line secured from JVB Financial Group.

It should be a busy year for non-QM securitization. Angel Oak plans to be in the market almost monthly while Acra is working on its first “big” deal.

Freddie Mac, in particular, expects to issue a record volume of $25 billion in single-family risk-sharing transactions this year.

A Florida-based investor is touting the profits available from commercial MBS with distressed malls. The trade runs counter to the “mall shorts” that helped generate massive returns for some investors last year.

Moody’s Investors Service estimates more than $22 billion of utility cost recovery charge securitizations will be issued in 2022 and 2023.

The enterprise for the first time will make loans on new-built homes eligible for securitization under its green MBS program.

Industry participants are confident that the non-agency market can absorb some GSE mortgages that will otherwise be subject to higher fees; SFA highlights ABS LIBOR complication; Credit Suisse modifies MBS issued in 2019; New Residential set to issue single-family rental securitization.

There’s a growing market for ABS where deals are negotiated discreetly between the issuer and a handful of investors. The securities typically don’t receive credit ratings.

REITs continue to buy agency MBS but carry a caveat: The sector is shrinking in terms of asset size. Investors who are contrarian at heart might want to start nibbling on some of these stocks.