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 ...

The Department of Housing and Urban Development has issued an interpretive rule to clear up some of the confusion created by the recently approved Dodd-Frank reform act regarding the eligibility of certain VA refinance loans to serve as Ginnie Mae collateral. Although interpretive rules are exempted from public comment under the Administrative Procedures Act, HUD is seeking public input on its interpretation of the loan-seasoning provision of the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act, which President Trump signed into law on May 24, 2018. Among other things, the statute prohibits Ginnie from guaranteeing payment on a security backed by a mortgage that does not meet its seasoning requirements. The protective measure was designed to deter lenders from encouraging veterans to refinance their loans often and repeatedly. Loan churning led to faster prepayment speeds on the ...

Issuance of non-agency mortgage-backed securities reached a third straight post-crisis quarterly record during the recently completed April-June cycle, according to a new ranking and analysis by Inside Nonconforming Markets. A total of $10.03 billion of non-agency MBS backed by new jumbo and expanded-credt originations was issued in the second quarter. The previous quarterly record was $6.28 billion in the first quarter of 2018. And in ... [Includes one data chart]

An affiliate of Verus Mortgage Capital is set to issue what will be the largest post-crisis nonprime MBS to date. The planned $489.6 million issuance will top a $426.2 million deal issued by Lone Star Funds in September. The types of mortgages in the latest Verus MBS are similar to those in a $249.0 million deal the firm issued in January, though the average loan balance in the new MBS is somewhat larger. Mortgages in the new deal have an average unpaid principal balance of ...

Redwood Trust is preparing to issue an expanded-prime mortgage-backed security that will be somewhat smaller than others issued by the real estate investment trust. Sequoia Mortgage Trust 2018-CH3 will be a $417.0 million issuance, according to a presale report by Kroll Bond Rating Agency. In May, Redwood issued a $520.5 million expanded-prime deal and the firm issued a $444.3 million MBS in February. Mortgages in the deals are largely similar and the pending issuance has ...

Originations of higher-priced conventional mortgages increased by 20.1 percent on an annual basis to $36.01 billion in 2017, according to a new ranking and analysis by Inside Nonconforming Markets of data from the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act. Higher-priced mortgages are loans that have an annual percentage rate higher than a threshold for the “average prime offer rate” on a comparable mortgage. First-lien mortgages with an APR ... [Includes two data charts]

In a recent comment letter submitted to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Mortgage Bankers Association argued for changes to regulations in an effort to boost originations of non-agency mortgages. The trade group cited problems with Appendix Q of the ability-to-repay rule and called for the government-sponsored enterprise “patch” for qualified mortgages to be extended to jumbo mortgages. Appendix Q sets QM standards for non-agency mortgages that aren’t eligible for sale to the GSEs or government-insured