Refinances of jumbo mortgages increased significantly in the second quarter and accounted for 35.5% of total jumbo originations. Industry participants expect refi volume to remain elevated.

Jumbo originations increased across channels in the first half of 2019. The correspondent channel lost a little bit of market share while retail remained the dominant source of jumbo production.

Citi joined JPMorgan Chase as the second big bank to issue MBS backed by non-QMs. The deal was stocked with mortgages from Impac.

LendingHome in July issued its second fix-and-flip MBS of 2019. The deal was met with stronger demand than the security issued in March.

The real estate investment trust received a positive no-action letter from the SEC regarding mortgage servicing rights acquired as part of its mortgage banking activities.

The rating service made a couple of issuer-friendly tweaks to its MBS loss model criteria proposed in June. The rating service, for the first time, will con-sider catastrophic risk when assessing loans.

Originations of non-agency jumbo mortgages increased in the second quarter, spurred by low interest rates. The sector gained market share and some lenders said pipelines were strong heading into 3Q19.

Several real estate investment trusts, including MFA Financial and Starwood Property Trust, are expanding their portfolio of non-qualified mortgages. The loans provide attractive returns, whether retained or bundled into an MBS.