Issuers of non-agency mortgage-backed securities appear likely to continue working in the private 144A market as opposed to issuing deals in the public market, according to industry participants. Redwood Trust was issuing jumbo MBS in the public market, but it switched to the 144A market even before new requirements from the Securities and Exchange Commission made private issuance more attractive. Most other jumbo MBS issuers in recent years have also stuck with offering their deals in ...

The agency single-family MBS market posted its best quarter in a year as total issuance climbed to $267.33 billion during the third quarter of 2014, according to a new Inside MBS & ABS analysis and ranking. The combined MBS issuance of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae rose 6.6 percent from the second quarter of 2014, hitting its strongest level since the third quarter of last year. On a year-to-date basis, agency MBS remained 48.7 percent below the pace set in the first nine months of 2013. Even the long-suffering non-agency MBS market showed...[Includes two data charts]

The market for non-agency MBS backed by nonperforming and re-performing home loans has grown exponentially in recent years. However, the sector remains relatively small and regulatory concerns persist regarding servicing practices. At the ABS East conference produced by Information Management Network last week in Miami Beach, Susan Valenti, a director at Wells Fargo Securities, said $1.0 billion of non-agency MBS backed by nonperforming loans and re-performing loans was issued in 2011, followed by $2.0 billion of such issuance in 2012, $5.7 billion in issuance in 2013 and $5.2 billion in issuance thus far in 2014. Most of the deals aren’t...

The Treasury Department is considering working with an issuer to sell a non-agency MBS that would serve as a benchmark transaction, according to agency officials. The goal of the issuance is to attract investors to the sector and create a standard term sheet for issuers. “The Treasury is thinking about facilitating one or more benchmark transactions,” Michael Stegman, counselor to the Treasury Department for housing finance policy, said this week at the ABS East conference produced by Information Management Network in Miami Beach. He said...

Investors are comfortable with broad swaths of the structured finance market and issuers are cautiously optimistic that regulators won’t hinder activity too much going forward, according to attendees at the ABS East conference produced by Information Management Network this week in Miami Beach. “We’re in a pretty good spot right now in the market from a supply-demand perspective,” said Bob Behal, a principal and co-head of ABS investments and commercial MBS investments at Vanguard Group. Almost 3,700 people had registered by the start of the conference, up slightly from around 3,500 people in 2013. Will Zak, a director at Barclays, said...

The rapid growth of nonbank special servicers since the mortgage crisis has resulted in a concentration of entities controlling the vast majority of loans in need of a work out, which could present some risks for non-agency MBS, according to a report by Fitch Ratings. Fitch cited industry consolidation, increased specialization and regulation as the primary drivers of the concentration shift toward nonbank servicers. “Historically, servicing was concentrated among the largest commercial banks due to their dominant market share in mortgage origination,” the rating service said. “Today, several nonbank servicers have achieved portfolio sizes that have begun to eclipse their banking counterparts.” Fitch noted...

A number of steps have been taken to reform the non-agency mortgage-backed security market but more changes are necessary, according to Michael Stegman, counselor on housing finance policy to the Treasury Department. Last week at a conference hosted by the Bipartisan Policy Center, Stegman detailed regulatory changes necessary to increase activity in the non-agency MBS market along with other changes the industry can work toward. “The last remaining piece of the puzzle is putting in place ...

JPMorgan Chase and Two Harbors Investment are preparing to issue two new jumbo mortgage-backed securities. The $483.56 million JPMorgan Mortgage Trust 2014-IVR3 is set to receive AAA ratings from DBRS and Kroll Bond Rating Agency. The deal includes a number of unique characteristics, including consisting solely of adjustable-rate mortgages and having representations and warranties that DBRS deemed as weak. The majority of the loans in Chase’s planned MBS are seven-year ARMs ...

Moody’s Investors Service is working on revamping its process for rating new non-agency mortgage-backed securities, including allowing issuers to use the same loan-level model used in Moody’s rating process. “We are providing an unprecedented level of transparency through publication of our model,” Navneet Agarwal, a managing director of residential MBS at Moody’s, said last week during a webinar hosted by the rating service. In August, Moody’s published a request for comment on its proposed ...

Some 64 percent of 884 community banks originating mortgages offer non-QMs, according to a survey conducted by the Conference of State Bank Supervisors. The results were published this week in a report from the Federal Reserve and the CSBS. Homewood Mortgage is the latest non-agency lender to announce a stated-income product. The program is available only for self-employed borrowers, with stringent requirements regarding liquidity and assets ... [Includes six briefs]