Home-equity lending jumped to its strongest level in seven years during the second quarter of 2015, but most depository institutions continued to see declining balances in their home-equity portfolios, according to a new Inside Mortgage Finance ranking and analysis. An estimated $24.0 billion of home-equity lines-of-credit and second mortgages were originated during the second quarter, up 23.1 percent from the first three months of the year. It was the highest production level since the second quarter of 2008. Although the Federal Reserve won’t release an official figure for home-equity loans outstanding at the end of June until next week, call-report data suggest...[Includes three data tables]

Concerns about litigation and various pricing issues have combined to suppress originations of non-qualified mortgages to borrowers who aren’t affluent, according to industry analysts. Since the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s ability-to-repay rule and QM standards took effect in early 2014, a certain portion of the non-QM market has held up fairly well: interest-only mortgages. However, the loans tend to be available solely for affluent borrowers, while non-QM originations for less-than-prime borrowers remain limited. Most non-QM lenders are targeting...

The CFPB’s QM standards currently don’t differ for loans held in portfolio or sold to other outlets.

The judge presiding over the case ruled that securities law regulates "disclosure of information, not the mismanagement of a company...”

Is the subprime MBS market ready for a revival, at least a small one?

However, insuring private-label MBS is not likely to be a future activity of the MI industry, given the losses suffered in the past...

Angel Oak Mortgage Solutions in Atlanta hopes to price its first-ever nonprime MBS sometime next week – a $150 million bond issued through Nomura Securities, a top Angel Oak executive told Inside MBS & ABS. Mike Fierman, managing partner and CEO of Angel Oak Companies, an affiliate of the lender, said officials have been on an investor road show the past week or so, crisscrossing the country. “Investors love...

Of course, there is a way to avoid the zero capital cushion dilemma. Congress can pass legislation to allow the GSEs to build capital or FHFA can act...

Bank and thrift holdings of first-lien mortgages continued to grow in the second quarter of 2015, according to an Inside Nonconforming Markets analysis of call reports. Most of the change occurred among the top three bank mortgage portfolios: Wells Fargo, Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase. Banks and thrifts held $1.81 trillion of first-lien mortgages as of the end of the second quarter of 2015. The holdings increased by 1.5 percent compared with ... [Includes one data chart]

Adjustable-rate mortgage originations increased by 19.5 percent during the second quarter of 2015, but ARM production this year trails 2014 levels significantly. An estimated $49.0 billion in ARMs were originated in the second quarter, bringing the total for 2015 to $90.0 billion. That represented just 11.2 percent of total first-lien originations for the first half of the year, compared with 18.9 percent over the first six months of 2014. Interest rates ... [Includes one data chart]