Starwood Property Trust plans to be a regular issuer of mortgage-backed securities backed by non-qualified mortgages after successfully closing its first deal this week. Loans in the $374.1 million issuance were sourced from Impac Mortgage Holdings, which is working to increase non-QM production, delivering the loans to Starwood and potentially other outlets. Jeffrey DiModica, president of Starwood Property Trust, said the real estate investment trust expects to be a “frequent issuer” ...

Ellington Financial could issue its second mortgage-backed security backed by non-qualified mortgages before yearend, according to officials at the nonbank. “We are nearing critical mass of product for a follow-on securitization and plan for that later this year, subject, of course, to market conditions,” said Laurence Penn, Ellington’s CEO and president. At the end of the June, Ellington held $150.2 million of non-QMs. Mark Tecotzky, co-CIO at Ellington, noted that the firm is increasing ...

Two lenders recently launched proprietary reverse-mortgage products. Quicken Loans’ One Reverse Mortgage unit is offering Home Equity Loan Optimizer. “With HELO, many high-value homes, condominiums, and solar-panel homes may qualify for a reverse mortgage,” One Reverse said. “Along with that, there is no mortgage insurance premium required and the amount clients may receive in proceeds is up to $4.0 million.” Longbridge Financial launched its Platinum ... [Includes two briefs]

Fannie Mae came under heavy criticism from certain elected officials and affordable housing advocates for extending $1 billion in financing to Invitation Home Loans, an SFR operator that’s publicly traded.

Certain SFR operators have been criticized for gobbling up thousands of properties for corporate ownership, thus removing these units from the inventory of homes available for sale.

Bright has been mentioned in housing and mortgage circles as a possible successor to FHFA Director Mel Watt.

A year ago, just 12.1 percent of new purchase loans fell into the highest-risk category…

The FHFA wants Fannie and Freddie to institute proper controls and perform monitoring on their multifamily counterparties…

Most of the month-to-month slump was at Freddie, where MBS production fell 8.9 percent from June.

With the launch of the single security less than a year away, there are some uncertainties that Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the industry expect to have cleared up before making the switch next June. They range from ensuring fungibility between Fannie and Freddie securities, to creating more regulatory clarity, preparing third parties and determining how the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association will consider the new security in the to-be-announced market....