Moody’s Investors Service is working to correct errors it made when rating a significant number of interest-only tranches on non-agency MBS dating back to at least 2015. At the end of August, Moody’s placed ratings of IO tranches from 953 MBS on review. While such reviews generally indicate whether an upgrade or downgrade is possible, the rating service said it wasn’t sure which direction ratings would go for many deals included in the review. The effort covers...

Private-label issuance all but disappeared since the recession and is finally expected to make a comeback, but lenders and aggregators will have a host of new requirements to meet. One firm is planning to help the industry navigate today’s landscape by offering a solution aimed at non-agency MBS readiness for new and old issuers. Clayton Holdings announced last week that it designed a program to help lenders and aggregators with their due diligence by understanding and preparing to comply with the new rules surrounding securitizing these non-agency assets. The firm hopes...

The volume of jumbo mortgages handled by the top servicers continued to increase in the second quarter of 2017, according to a new ranking and analysis by Inside Nonconforming Markets. A group of 30 companies serviced an estimated $957.50 billion of jumbos at the end of June, up 2.3 percent from the previous quarter and up 8.7 percent from the second quarter of 2016. The servicers outpaced...[Includes one data table]

An affiliate of Bayview Asset Management issued a $230.0 million non-agency mortgage-backed security this week largely stocked with seasoned mortgages, including one non-qualified mortgage. DBRS and Fitch Ratings placed AAA ratings on Bayview Mortgage Fund IVc Trust 2017-RT3, without putting much emphasis on the non-QM. Non-QMs had accounted for 2.1 percent of a $125.82 million MBS from Bayview that priced in July and 1.0 percent of a $208.13 million deal it priced in April. The sponsor of the deal will retain...

Redwood Trust is preparing to issue its first non-agency mortgage-backed security backed by “expanded prime” mortgages. In the second quarter, Redwood acquired approximately $240.0 million of such mortgages, which have somewhat looser underwriting standards than what’s typically seen in the jumbo MBS market. Clayton Holdings reviewed 417 mortgages for the planned issuance, according to documents filed Aug. 30 with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The total unpaid principal balance of the loans wasn’t disclosed. The deal will include...

The Structured Finance Industry Group pushed for trustees of non-agency MBS to increase disclosures to investors as the industry continues to deal with the aftermath of Wells Fargo withholding millions of dollars of funds in vintage deals. In a statement released late last week, the industry group said it has a policy of not engaging in issues involving legacy transactions that may be associated with litigation, especially where such litigation is between various members of SFIG. The Wall Street group issued...

Fitch Ratings announced last week that non-agency MBS with a unique structure will be eligible to receive AAA ratings. The rating service said deals with a shifting-interest structure are now eligible for the top ratings after previously limiting ratings on such deals to single-A. Both DBRS and S&P Global Ratings have assigned AAA ratings to some MBS backed by re-performing mortgages where the deals had shifting-interest structures. MBS with such structures distribute...

Commercial banks and savings institutions continued to stockpile agency MBS during the second quarter of 2017 with a strong appetite for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac pass-through securities. Total bank investment in residential MBS rose by $36.28 billion during the second quarter, lifting the industry’s aggregate portfolio to a record $1.799 trillion. Bank MBS holdings have risen steadily since the third quarter of 2014, growing by $264.07 billion over that period. In addition to those held-to-maturity and available-for-sale accounts, about a dozen banks held $16.34 billion of residential MBS in trading accounts. All of the growth has been...[Includes two data tables]

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are still titans in the residential MBS market when it comes to making new securities, but they have been forced to the sidelines as investors over nine years in conservatorship. The two government-sponsored enterprises held a combined $221.48 billion of residential MBS at the end of June. Firm numbers on the total volume of MBS outstanding at that point aren’t available yet, but it’s unlikely that Fannie and Freddie held more than 3.5 percent of the market. The two GSEs reduced...[Includes one data table]

JPMorgan Chase and Redwood Trust are set to continue their regular issuance of non-agency mortgage-backed securities, with deals scheduled to close on Aug. 30. The planned JPMorgan Mortgage Trust 2017-3 is a $1.02 billion deal, while Sequoia Mortgage Trust 2017-6 is sized at $355.4 million. Both of the MBS are predominantly backed by non-agency jumbo mortgages along with some loans eligible for sale to the government-sponsored enterprises. Rating services ...