Demand in the secondary market for non-qualified mortgages is helping to fuel originations of the loans. Delinquencies in the sector have ticked up but aren’t yet a major concern.

Investors can’t seem to get enough non-agency MBS. Issuance is booming and demand is expected to remain elevated thanks to the outlook for interest rates, among other factors.

Ellington Financial plans to increase non-agency issuance. The real estate investment trust last month issued its first non-QM MBS in over a year.

loanDepot is preparing to issue a non-agency MBS stocked with scratch-and-dent mortgages.

Securitization of home equity loans increased again in the first quarter, driven by closed-end second liens. Issuance is growing exponentially, helped by nonbanks and investor demand. (Includes two data tables.)

The Structured Finance Association, which is developing a compliance tool to facilitate uniformity in the non-agency MBS market on QM standards, has run into a vexing issue regarding the definition of a QM.

The diversification inherent in MBS may be the ideal tool to combat climate risk in housing finance.

Ratings for MBS with residential transition loans are helping to increase investor demand.

Morningstar DBRS assigned a preliminary A rating to the deal that includes 370 short-term loans with a principal balance of $158.4 million.

A New York Federal Reserve study found that the secondary market loan sales could help boost capital at CDFI-approved lenders.