Wells Fargo fell a notch as PennyMac raced to the top to become the leading VA jumbo securitizer for the first quarter of 2017 – a period in which VA jumbo loan securitization took a sharp nose dive. The volume of VA jumbo loans securitized during the first three months plunged 36.8 percent, compared to the meager 2.0 percent decline seen in the fourth quarter. The drop reflected a 32.9 percent drop in jumbo mortgage production during the first quarter, along with similar large drops in virtually every product segment in the mortgage market, according to an analysis by Inside FHA/VA Lending affiliate Inside Mortgage Finance. The agency jumbo market was down 39.1 percent from the fourth quarter despite the bump up in high-cost loan limits to $636,150, an increase of $10,650 that became effective in January. All components of the agency jumbo market took big hits in the first quarter, including ... [ Charts ]

Marketplace lender Social Finance – a mortgage originator with a track record in securitizing consumer and student loans – has filed for a state bank charter in Utah and is also pondering selling stock to the public. For now, the privately held technology-centric firm isn’t saying much about its plans, including the initial public offering. One source familiar with the company’s mortgage operation said SoFi recently hired one executive away from a larger player by dangling the IPO and stock options. To date, there has been...

Agency issuance of single-family MBS posted a solid, if unspectacular, gain from April to May, according to a new Inside MBS & ABS ranking and analysis. Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae issued a combined $98.52 billion of single-family MBS last month, up 4.1 percent from their April volume. Monthly production in 2017 still hasn’t caught up to the $134.21 billion issued in January but, on a year-to-date basis, it’s running about 5.3 percent ahead of the pace set in the first five months of last year. The story in 2017 has been...[Includes two data tables]

June is shaping up to be a strong month for the non-agency MBS market with a handful of new deals that reflect the character of the sector: a reliance on scratch-and-dent transactions mixed with an emerging nonprime component and opportunistic prime jumbo issuance. Five non-agency MBS totaling $1.90 billion hit the market in the first week of June, with three S&D deals accounting for $1.30 billion of the total. The biggest of these was...

The vacancy rate on homes that collateralize single-family rental securitizations rose ever so slightly to 4.3 percent in May, but high renewal rates on tenant leases were strong, according to figures compiled by Morningstar Research. The firm noted that the average retention rate rose for the fourth straight month and now stands at 79.8 percent “for the most recent data available.” Two SFR securitizations, including one from market leader Invitation Homes, paid off...

Redwood Trust is set to end a slight lull in its issuance of jumbo mortgage-backed securities with a new $349.46 million deal. The firm issued one jumbo MBS per month in the first three months of the year while planned Sequoia Mortgage Trust 2017-4 is set to close at the end of this month, according to presale reports by Kroll Bond Rating Agency and Moody’s Investors Service. At a recent investor conference, Marty Hughes, Redwood’s CEO, said...

Deephaven Mortgage LLC soon will issue its second securitization of nonprime mortgages of this year, a $250.1 million deal backed by a variety of loans that fall outside of the legal safe harbor for qualified-mortgage status. Presale reports from S&P Global and Kroll Bond Rating Agency indicate that 45.6 percent of the loans were acquired from Angel Oak Mortgage Solutions, with the rest coming from Deephaven. Shellpoint Mortgage Servicing will service all the loans. The mortgages were originated...

American International Group’s jumbo conduit has purchased a significant volume of mortgages in the past year and has plans to issue non-agency mortgage-backed securities. As of April, AIG Investments had purchased prime jumbo mortgages with an original balance of approximately $4.80 billion, according to Fitch Ratings. AIG launched its residential mortgage lending division in 2013 and has ramped up acquisition activity since then. Fitch recently assessed...

Ocwen Financial recently filed a lawsuit against Fidelity Information Services, which completed a two-year review of Ocwen as part of an order by the California Department of Business Oversight. Ocwen alleged that FIS submitted false, fraudulent and improper invoices for the review, including invoices from strip clubs and casinos. FIS has disputed the allegations. The Structured Finance Industry Group is...

Ginnie is adding more muscle to a performance-measurement tool to help improve mortgage-backed securities issuers’ ability to compare their performance with other issuers in terms of meeting agency requirements. Other enhancements to the Issuer Operation Performance Profile (IOPP) would increase scoring transparency and make performance reports clearer and easier to understand, the agency said. Introduced in 2015, the IOPP is essentially a performance scorecard to gauge effectiveness as a Ginnie issuer. Issuers are scored based on a pre-determined set of metrics for performance and for default. Each metric is weighted in the issuer’s overall performance score and – for single-family issuers only – default management score. If an issuer fails in one metric, it may be required to develop a remediation plan to improve performance. The number, type and weight of the metrics may be ...