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...

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]

A new jumbo MBS from Redwood Trust will mark the second non-agency MBS to include mortgages subject to the TRID mortgage disclosure rule. The real estate investment trust plans to issue a $344.89 million deal next week, according to a presale report from Kroll Bond Rating Agency. The rating service said 366 mortgages, accounting for 74.8 percent of the loan pool, are subject to the combined Truth in Lending Act/Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act rule. Redwood will issue...

The nonagency, nonprime MBS market continues to generate plenty of interest among mortgage professionals, but the number of securities being generated – and contemplated – remains small. The situation isn’t likely to change anytime soon, but there are developments on the horizon that could spur an increase in issuance. According to interviews conducted by Inside MBS & ABS, the number of investors interested in buying nonprime whole loans is increasing. So far, the primary attraction is the higher yield offered by these non-Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac and FHA loans. Last year, roughly $2 billion in nonprime loans were originated...

Redwood Trust is preparing to issue a $344.89 million jumbo mortgage-backed security next week, according to a presale report from Kroll Bond Rating Agency. Most of the mortgages in the planned deal are subject to the TRID mortgage disclosure rule. The combined Truth in Lending Act/Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act rule from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau took effect in early October. Since then, only one jumbo MBS has included TRID loans ...

Bank and thrift holdings of first-lien mortgages as of the end of the first quarter of 2016 declined compared with the end of 2015, according to an Inside Nonconforming Markets analysis of bank and thrift call reports. Banks and thrifts held $1.85 trillion in first-lien residential mortgages at the end of March, down 1.0 percent from the end of December. But industry holdings were up 1.6 percent from March 2015, suggesting that banks still have plenty of ... [Includes one data chart]

Hopes for a resurgence of issuance of non-agency mortgage-backed securities backed by new mortgages appear to be tied more to banks than to steps Congress might take to reduce the government-sponsored enterprises’ footprint, according to industry analysts. Since the financial crisis, banks have largely opted to hold non-agency originations in portfolio instead of issuing MBS. According to an analysis by Bank of America Merrill Lynch, capital requirements have given banks ...

Officials at Bayview Loan Servicing note that the loans available to correspondents and brokers in the lender’s portfolio lending program allow borrowers shut out from agency mortgages to qualify. “All of the agency and qualified mortgage products that are out there look the same,” Ski Swiatkowski, vice president of portfolio product marketing at Bayview, said last week during a webinar hosted by the lender. Bayview, whose owners include affiliates of The Blackstone Group, offers five ...