The average combined loan-to-value ratio on the deal is 71.5 percent, one of the highest levels for the new era of jumbo MBS.

Redwood will have the opportunity to buy jumbo mortgages from FHLB members via the Chicago bank.

WinWater Home Mortgage, a New York-based conduit managed by several Wall Street veterans, is ready to market its first jumbo MBS, but has also made inquiries about non-prime transactions as well, according to traders and lenders familiar with the company. WinWater plans to issue a $249.47 million jumbo MBS, according to a presale report released late this week by Kroll Bond Rating Agency. Not only is the bond WinWater’s first deal, it represents the first new issuance in the sector since late April when Credit Suisse came to market. The average combined loan-to-value ratio on the deal is...

The Mortgage Bankers Association said the proposed cure would allow loans intended to be QMs to qualify as such regardless of an inadvertent excess in points and fees.

“This appears to be very good news and is a credit to our collective work with the Coalition for Sensible Housing Policy,” the National Association of Realtors told its members.

We’re hearing unconfirmed reports that the Federal Housing Finance Agency may not hire a chief executive and chairman for the common securitization platform project after all…

But there was some good news: Jumbos accounted for 18.7 percent of total originations in the first quarter of 2014, a level not seen since 2004.

Fitch Ratings said the spike was an aberration, caused by a servicing transfer, not sudden poor performance by pristine jumbo borrowers.

Strong appetite from lenders for jumbo mortgages wasn’t enough to overcome the overall decline in mortgage production in the first quarter of 2014. Jumbo originations declined by 21.4 percent compared with the fourth quarter of 2013, according to a new ranking and analysis by Inside Nonconforming Markets. And the estimated $44.0 billion in jumbos originated in the first quarter was down by 31.3 percent compared with the same period in 2013. The non-agency jumbo sector has gained some market share during that time as overall production has declined even more. Jumbos accounted for 18.7 percent of total originations in the first quarter of 2014, a level not seen since 2004. Wells Fargo remained...[Includes one data chart]

Among the 12 questions that the FHFA asks the public to consider is this: “If the enterprises [Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac] continue to raise g-fees, will overall loan originations decrease?”