Credit unions held a total of $107.1 billion of MBS in their portfolios at the end of the first quarter of 2013, according to a new Inside MBS & ABS analysis and ranking of call report data. That was up 4.9 percent from the previous period, a relatively strong increase in a market where the supply of MBS outstanding has barely budged and the Federal Reserve represents a huge competitor for new issuance. Compared to a year ago, credit union MBS holdings were up 10.9 percent, while the total MBS market actually declined by 1.4 percent. Credit unions for the most part have ignored...[Includes one data chart]

Could rising interest rates and a shake-up in the repo market cause some real estate investment trusts that specialize in the MBS market to dump securities en masse? A new report from Fitch Ratings notes that repurchase agreements represent 90 percent of agency mortgage REIT liabilities. “In a deleveraging scenario, MBS investors reliant on repo borrowing may need to liquidate some of their holdings,” writes Fitch analyst Robert Grossman and his team. If that happens it might create what Fitch calls a “knock-on” effect for MBS valuations and the mortgage market in general. The cash provided via repo lines is...

Credit Suisse and Shellpoint Partners decided to damn the torpedoes and issue a total of three non-agency jumbo MBS at the end of the second quarter of 2013 despite concerns about investor appetite. The Shellpoint MBS was a proof-of-concept affair, while at least one of the Credit Suisse deals appears to be aimed at unloading seasoned originations from one lender. The three deals totaled $1.10 billion. Analysts at Bank of America Merrill Lynch said...

Issuers of new non-agency MBS continue to resist requests from investors to standardize reps and warrants for new issuance. Issuers suggest that investors will eventually differentiate pricing between deals based on reps and warrants, but it hasn’t happened yet. “Securitization platforms do – and will likely continue to – differ in terms of the scope of the reps and warrants provided,” according to analysts at Standard & Poor’s. “While standardizing reps and warrants would be a step towards improving transparency in the residential MBS market, the new issue jumbo market has shown substantial diversity even with relatively few recent transactions.” S&P recently hosted...

New MBS and ABS issuance slowed in the second quarter of 2013 as rising interest rates in June stalled the market’s momentum. A total of $495.4 billion in residential MBS and non-mortgage ABS were issued during the second quarter of 2013, according to a new Inside MBS & ABS market analysis. That was down 3.7 percent from the first quarter of the year, although total production during the first half of 2013 was still up 17.8 percent from the same period last year. June was...[Includes one data chart]

Roughly $495 billion of residential MBS and non-mortgage ABS were issued during the second quarter of 2013, according to a new Inside MBS & ABS market analysis.

Japanese investors increased their holdings of agency MBS by $32 billion and even boosted their non-agency MBS investments by $1.4 billion.

Although the recent spike in rates spooked some players in the non-agency market, conduits like Redwood Trust and Credit Suisse are still in the hunt for new customers.

Cherry Hill Mortgage Investment Corp., a real estate investment trust launched by Freedom Mortgage, recently filed updated documents tied to its initial public offering, but remains quiet on when it might actually go public. Like many REITs, the new company is setting its sights on the mortgage servicing market, in particular “excess servicing” rights that will be created by Freedom, which is based in Cherry Hill, NJ. The company did not return calls from Inside Mortgage Finance about the offering. There has been...

Hedge fund giant Cerberus Capital Management has quietly purchased a nonbank mortgage company based in Georgia and plans to use the firm to grow it into a national player in residential finance, according to industry sources close to the deal. One official inside of Cerberus confirmed the purchase to Inside Mortgage Finance as well as some of the growth plans, but declined to identify the company. Cerberus, which makes investments worldwide, operates dozens of funds, many of which target specific sectors or projects. The sale was facilitated...