The new non-agency MBS from Invictus is a bit of a rarity: the bond is backed only by mortgages on single-family rental properties.

Is Bank of America doing a slow fade on mortgages?

Back in July 2017, Fannie revised its automated underwriting system to accept loans with DTI ratios over 45 percent without lenders having to show other compensating factors…

In the 2017 annual report, Pershing Square lists Fannie and Freddie common among its “losers…”

In early 2018 both GSEs were under orders from the Federal Housing Finance Agency to set g-fees that meet a “minimum return on equity…”

The non-agency MBS market is starting to look more like it did before the financial collapse of 2008, although still a much slimmer version of its former self. [Includes three data charts.]

With relatively strong demand from investors for prime non-agency MBS, issuers are starting to break the mold that was established after the financial crisis. Areas of experimentation include due diligence sampling, an emphasis on loans eligible for sale to the government-sponsored enterprises and specifically tailored transactions.

Stone Point Capital, which seems to have an insatiable appetite for mortgage-related assets, has added due diligence provider American Mortgage Consultants to its growing stable of companies.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac cleared another hurdle in their efforts to expand the investor base for their mainstay credit-risk transfer programs when a leading Wall Street group said it saw no problems with a plan to structure future CRT issues as real estate mortgage investment conduits.

Losses on subprime auto ABS spiked in 2016, prompting warnings from industry analysts about lenders loosening underwriting standards in an effort to gain market share. Subprime auto lenders and ABS issuers appear to have made some adjustments as losses stabilized last year, though some concerns about performance linger.