Banks large and small varied their portfolio lending tactics in 2012, with some increasing first-lien originations for portfolio and others allowing runoff and even selling some of their holdings. Overall, bank and thrift first-lien portfolio holdings increased in 2012 compared with the previous year, with originations outpacing prepayments and sales. Banks and thrifts held $1.80 trillion in first-lien mortgages in portfolio at the end of 2012, up 2.3 percent from the end of 2011, according to ... [Includes one data chart]

Interest-only mortgage lending increased significantly in 2012, led by originators willing to portfolio the loans. Lenders expect the originations to remain strong even though the products were singled out in the Dodd-Frank Act and subsequent ability-to-repay rule from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Some $22.94 billion in IOs were originated in 2012 by 15 lenders tracked by Inside Nonconforming Markets. The lenders’ IO production increased by 19.9 percent compared with 2011 ... [Includes one data chart]

Redwood Trust continues to pump out strong non-agency jumbo mortgage-backed securities with originations from a number of lenders. The real estate investment trust’s latest MBS features lower credit enhancement levels and low loan-to-value ratios. The $576.4 million Sequoia Mortgage Trust 2013-4 issued this week received AAA ratings from Fitch Ratings, Kroll Bond Rating Agency and Moody’s Investors Service, with credit enhancement of 6.25 percent on the top-rated tranche. The first non-agency jumbo MBS Redwood ...

Officials at EverBank Financial said demand for non-agency jumbo mortgages is strong from borrowers and investors. The bank has increased its jumbo originations and is in the process of issuing its first non-agency mortgage-backed security. “We see strong demand for the high-quality preferred jumbo product we originate,” Rob Clements, chairman and CEO of EverBank, said this month during an investor presentation. The bank originated $397.5 million in non-agency jumbos during the fourth quarter of 2012 ...

Nonprime industry veteran Jon Daurio said he has lined up “soft” commitments of roughly $100 million to start a new non-agency mortgage banking firm. Daurio told Inside Nonconforming Markets that the “softness” or “hardness” of the commitments “is dependent on the final terms that I eventually negotiate with a lead investor.” He said the funding will come from private-equity sources. Daurio, who left Kondaur Capital about two years ago, said he could not comment further at this time. He has been ...

Nationstar Mortgage and Walter Investment Management have focused most of their recent efforts on acquiring agency mortgages and increasing originations of such loans. The shift is due to increased competition for nonperforming mortgages along with the small amount of non-agency mortgages originated since 2008. In January, Walter acquired Fannie Mae mortgage servicing rights with an unpaid principal balance of $128.0 billion from Bank of America and Residential Capital. The servicer said it is handling ...

A federal judge this week tentatively dismissed most of the claims the National Credit Union Administration filed against Goldman Sachs regarding non-agency mortgage-backed securities. U.S. District Judge George Wu determined that the NCUA’s complaint was untimely unless the federal regulator could prove otherwise, according to an analysis by the Credit Union National Association. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau published a preliminary list of counties exempt – in certain circumstances ... [Includes two briefs]

The mortgage banking industry is backing a proposal by the Department of Housing and Urban Development to reduce the loan-to-value ratio on FHA-insured mortgage loans over $625,500 from 96.5 percent to 95 percent. In effect, the proposal would raise the minimum downpayment on FHA-insured jumbo loans from 3.5 percent to 5 percent. According to the Mortgage Bankers Association, the proposal would help return FHA to its historical core mission of providing first-time, minority and low- and moderate-income homebuyers access to affordable mortgage credit. The proposal is also designed to encourage the return of ...

The forlorn home-equity lending market remained at record lows in new production despite growing signs of improvement in the housing market, a new Inside Mortgage Finance analysis and ranking reveals.Mortgage lenders originated a record low of just $44.0 billion in home-equity loans last year, down 12.0 percent from 2011. Although total home-equity lending was down, credit unions reported a 5.4 percent increase in their annual originations compared to 2011. (Includes two data charts)

The jumbo mortgage market enjoyed solid growth in new originations last year, but agency securitization programs regained some of the ground lost to the private sector back in 2011, according to a new Inside Mortgage Finance ranking and analysis. Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the FHA in 2012 financed a record $117.6 billion of home mortgages that exceed the traditional jumbo threshold of $417,000. That was up 38.9 percent from the combined agency total back in 2011, and it was roughly twice the growth rate in non-agency jumbo mortgage originations. The non-agency jumbo market rose...[Includes three data charts]