Ellington Financial could issue its second mortgage-backed security backed by non-qualified mortgages before yearend, according to officials at the nonbank. “We are nearing critical mass of product for a follow-on securitization and plan for that later this year, subject, of course, to market conditions,” said Laurence Penn, Ellington’s CEO and president. At the end of the June, Ellington held $150.2 million of non-QMs. Mark Tecotzky, co-CIO at Ellington, noted that the firm is increasing ...

Mortgage lenders became slightly more daring in terms of the credit characteristics of the loans they sold to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac during the second quarter of 2018, according to an exclusive new Inside Mortgage Trends analysis and ranking. [Includes two data charts.]

Secondary market trading for home-equity loans has increased across most market segments, thanks to greater available supply driven by higher prices, according to a new report from MountainView Financial Solutions, a Denver-based provider of financial services analytics and advisory services.

The majority of loans in expanded-credit mortgage-backed securities are adjustable-rate mortgages, while such loans are few and far between in prime non-agency MBS, according to a new analysis by Inside Nonconforming Markets. [Includes one data chart.]

The government-sponsored enterprises’ holdings of vintage nonprime mortgages continued a gradual decline during the second quarter of 2018, according to a new analysis by Inside Nonconforming Markets. [Includes one data chart.]

A handful of banks account for a large share of the loans in prime non-agency mortgage-backed securities issued since the start of 2017, according to a new ranking and analysis by Inside Nonconforming Markets. Banks were four of the top five originators of securitized prime mortgages between January 2017 and June 2018. More precisely, these banks ranked among the top known sources of collateral for these deals. In fact, the name of the originator was ... [Includes two data charts]

In a potentially significant shift, Wells Fargo has set aside $507.0 million in mortgages for inclusion in a non-agency mortgage-backed security. Wells is the top jumbo lender and some industry analysts suggest that the jumbo MBS market won’t rebound until banks like Wells stop retaining production in portfolio. Wells said loans designated as held-for-sale for a future MBS are nonconforming mortgages that would have otherwise been stored in its portfolio. Although no other details about ...

First Republic Bank and Flagstar Bank increased their originations of jumbo mortgages during the second quarter of 2018. First Republic funded $3.13 billion in single-family originations during the quarter. Jumbos account for the vast majority of its production. Originations by First Republic were up by 34.3 percent from the previous quarter and up by 2.6 percent from the second quarter of 2017. Jim Herbert, chairman and CEO of First Republic, said the bank was able to boost production even though ...

There’s a sharp divide in the mortgage industry regarding the prospects for originations of non-qualified mortgages. Smaller nonbanks that focus on such products have high hopes for the non-QM sector while larger lenders have low expectations. Justin Mahoney, a senior portfolio manager at SG Capital Partners, a non-QM lender, noted that the nonprime mortgage originations market is the only lending sector that hasn’t recovered since the financial crisis. “It represents a real growth opportunity ...

Lending units affiliated with Angel Oak Companies reported a record $512.0 million in originations of non-qualified mortgages for the second quarter of 2018, putting the nonbank on pace to top $1.0 billion in production this year. Angel Oak’s non-QM production increased by 52.0 percent from the previous quarter and nearly doubled its originations of a year ago. Angel Oak’s various production entities added 104 employees during the second quarter for a total of 527 staff members ...