Commercial banks and thrifts reported a further decline in their holdings of non-mortgage ABS during the first quarter, according to a new Inside MBS & ABS analysis of call-report data. As of the end of March, banks held a combined $131.96 billion of ABS in their portfolio, including assets intended to be held to maturity as well as those available for sale. That represented a 2.3 percent drop from the end of 2015, and a hefty 15.9 percent decline from a year ago. It was...[Includes two data tables]

A $161.71 million MBS planned by Lone Star Funds backed by newly originated nonprime mortgages received an A rating this week from DBRS and Fitch Ratings. The deal is the first post-crisis nonprime MBS to receive a credit rating and it will be the largest post-crisis nonprime MBS issued to date. The rating services stressed that while the mortgages originated by Lone Star’s Caliber Home Loans are generally nonprime, the underwriting on the loans is relatively strong. However, Fitch said it capped the rating at A due to the limited nonprime performance of Caliber and Hudson Americas, the asset manager for the MBS. “As more post-crisis non-prime performance is established while upholding appropriate controls, Fitch will consider...

The so-called TRID-lock seen in the jumbo MBS market since October appears to be easing as both Redwood Trust and JPMorgan Chase have come to market with deals that include some loans with compliance problems. Before this week, only one jumbo MBS included mortgages subject to TRID, a deal from Two Harbors Investment in March. Many industry participants blamed...

The deal is the first post-crisis nonprime MBS to receive a credit rating and it will be the largest post-crisis nonprime MBS issued to date.

New home-equity lending activity fell during the first quarter of 2016, but the market started the year well ahead of the pace in early 2015, according to a new Inside Mortgage Finance ranking and analysis. New home-equity originations on home-equity lines of credit and closed-end second mortgages fell by 6.3 percent from the fourth quarter to an estimated $45.0 billion. However, that was up 18.4 percent from the first quarter of last year. The first-quarter drop in home-equity lending mirrored...[Includes three data tables]

Last year, $18.8 billion in outstanding IOs in non-agency MBS hit 10-year recasts…

However, Fitch did raise concerns about the expenses associated with Pentalpha Surveillance, which will review potential breaches of representations and warranties…

JPMorgan Chase may not like FHA loans very much, but it certainly has a strong appetite for jumbos, hence the huge growth in its retained portfolio...

The Lone Star bond could also receive credit ratings, which would be a first for a nonprime MBS backed by new originations in the post-crisis era...

Better loan grading on the way?