AG Mortgage Investment Trust recently formed a mortgage banking platform called Arc Home. The real estate investment trust managed by a subsidiary of Angelo, Gordon & Co. said Arc Home plans to originate jumbo mortgages and non-qualified mortgages, along with FHA loans, through retail, wholesale and correspondent channels. Arc Home will be led by Barry Bier, Sandy Blitzer, Martin Schroeter and Brad Brautigam. Some of the executives ... [Includes five briefs]

Sellers delivered $35. 2 billion in VA loans into Ginnie Mae pools in the fourth quarter of 2015, down 15.0 percent from the previous quarter, according to Inside FHA/VA Lending’s analysis of Ginnie loan-level data. Retail lenders and correspondents accounted for the bulk of VA loans securitized during the quarter. Retail accounted for 45.8 percent of VA purchase loans, enjoying a slight edge over correspondents, which comprised 45.5 percent of securitized VA loans. The broker share of securitized VA purchase loans was 8.7 percent, down 21.2 percent from the third quarter. Meanwhile, retail accounted for 53.8 percent of Ginnie mortgage-backed securities backed by VA refinance loans in the fourth quarter, while correspondents’ share was down to 28.5 percent. The broker channel accounted for 17.7 percent of VA loans securitized during the period. The average FICO score on Ginnie VA loans in the ... [1 chart]

Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae produced a combined $88.96 billion of single-family MBS in January, a modest 1.4 percent decline from December, according to a new ranking and analysis by Inside MBS & ABS. Ginnie production was actually up 7.2 percent from the previous month, while both the government-sponsored enterprises posted declines in new issuance. January’s agency MBS production included...[Includes two data tables]

Jefferies Funding is underwriting a securitization of a revolving warehouse facility for agency mortgages originated by two nonbanks. The $225.0 million Station Place Securitization Trust 2016-1 received provisional Aaa ratings this week from Moody’s Investors Service. The rating service said the transaction is based on a “back-to-back” repo structure, with the three classes of notes scheduled to be paid off one year after issuance. The proceeds from the sale of the notes will be used by the issuer to purchase eligible mortgages and participation certificates from the repo seller. The revolving warehouse facility will be sponsored...

The outlook for publicly traded real estate investment trusts that invest in agency MBS and related products is starting to improve, in part, because competing investments are looking ugly. That might seem like a small consolation prize for REITs, but several are posting decent earnings, even though the book value of their common stock is relatively weak. Meanwhile, while certain investors shun their stocks, many companies have engaged...

Securitizations backed by proceeds from franchises such as Domino’s Pizza and Dunkin Brands hit a record in terms of issuance volume in 2015. Industry participants suggest the market for such deals, known as whole-business securitizations, is set to expand due to growing interest from investors. There was more than $7.0 billion in WBS issuance in 2015, exceeding the issuance of the three prior years combined, according to Cory Wishengrad, a senior managing director and head of structured products origination at Guggenheim Securities. Wishengrad and others involved with structuring franchise/royalty securitizations spoke at a recent roundtable hosted by Standard & Poor’s. “The WBS sector has made...

Securities backed by nonperforming mortgages, one of the biggest sources of volume currently in the non-agency MBS market, are expected to continue to look good for investors and issuers, even as the housing market recovers. This week, analysts at Bank of America Merrill Lynch recommended investing in senior tranches of non-agency MBS backed by nonperforming loans. “As things get bad for risk assets and we recommend positioning for further widening in risk premium, NPL senior tranches stand out...

The expected increase in interest rates on some previously modified home mortgages is a slight credit negative for RMBS performance because these loans will re-default at a higher rate, according to analysts at Moody’s Investors Service. However, higher default rates will have only a modest effect on subprime and Alt A RMBS, because only a small percentage of outstanding subprime and Alt A mortgage loans are positioned to experience future rate step-ups. In their research, the analysts found that subprime and Alt A modified loans become delinquent more frequently after a rate step-up. “Modified subprime and Alt A loans with a demonstrated performance history of four to five years become delinquent at a significantly higher rate after a step-up in interest rates than do loans of a similar type and vintage that have not stepped up,” said the analysts in a new report released this week. According to their data, in July 2015, only 2 percent of the modified re-performing subprime loans became...

If lenders used the seemingly sensible underwriting standards that were in place in 2001, some 1.2 million more mortgages would have been originated in 2014, according to estimates by the Urban Institute’s Housing Finance Policy Center. Laurie Goodman, director of the HFPC, said lenders have “plenty of room to safely ease credit.” An underwriting index from the HFPC suggests that originators are accepting little risk in terms of borrower or loan characteristics, hindering a recovery in the mortgage market and the broader economy. Lenders note...

For the first time since October 2008, Moody’s Investors Service upgraded two top private mortgage insurance companies to investment grade due to strong performance of new insurance written, cost savings and fewer losses. However, risk factors, including proposed capital regulations from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, could adversely impact the ratings. Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corp. and Radian Guaranty now have Baa3 ratings from Moody’s, although other rating servicers appear disinclined to follow. Both MIs continue to be rated below investment grade by Standard & Poor’s. The improved ratings come...