Redwood Trust loosened its underwriting guidelines for jumbo mortgages in an effort to acquire loans beyond the typical standards set by big banks, according to officials at the real estate investment trust. “It’s meant to [address] the entire universe outside of the banks while still serving borrowers who we think are good candidates and will repay,” Christopher Abate, president of Redwood, said during an investor presentation in September. Redwood introduced its Choice expanded-prime ...

Originations of jumbo mortgages increased by 16.3 percent in 2016 but the sector’s share of total originations declined somewhat from the previous year, according to a ranking and analysis by Inside Mortgage Finance of newly released Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data. Some $340.88 billion of jumbos were originated in 2016, with banks dominating the ranks of the top lenders. Jumbos accounted for 17.5 percent of total originations last year, down from ... [Includes one data chart]

For originations of jumbo mortgages, it’s California and then everywhere else. The state accounted for 36.7 percent of jumbo lending in 2016, according to an analysis of Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data by Inside Mortgage Finance. Some $124.95 billion in jumbos were originated in the Golden State last year, up 18.2 percent from 2015. New York ranked second with $22.72 billion, accounting for 6.7 percent of total jumbo originations during the year. Jumbos ... [Includes one data chart]

Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson indicated he is open to the idea of moving the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage program out of the FHA Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund to stem future losses. Testifying before the House Financial Services Committee this week, Carson said the changes the department has made recently, as well as those currently under consideration, will eliminate most of the program’s problems although residual issues may still linger. Carson acknowledged that the HECM program’s default rate has been a drain on the MMI Fund even though it is much smaller than the FHA’s forward loan portfolio. The recently revised HECM rules issued on Sept. 19 have “stopped the bleeding” in terms of new reverse mortgages, he added. However, separating the HECM portfolio from the FHA insurance fund and making it a stand-alone program is ...

An estimated 9.8 percent of Ginnie Mae’s business may be potentially at risk due to hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria, according to data released recently by the agency. The data represent the number of Ginnie loans and their unpaid principal balance amounts in presidentially declared disaster areas in Texas, Florida, Georgia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. A total of 1.07 million mortgage loans with an unpaid principal balance of $184.5 billion have been affected. Ginnie Mae’s current mortgage-backed securities portfolio totals $1.9 trillion. The data only refer to the geographic locations of all affected properties underlying loans in Ginnie MBS pools and do not indicate the percentage of those that may have sustained damage during a storm. Hurricane Irma had the highest share of affected loans, 6 percent, while Harvey and Maria accounted for 3 percent and 1 percent, respectively. Irma caused the ...

Federal regulators and industry analysts raised concerns that defaults would spike once pre-crisis home-equity lines of credit hit their amortization periods. Those fears didn’t come to pass as vintage HELOCs have performed well, thanks to home-price appreciation and low interest rates. Pre-crisis HELOCs typically had interest-only periods for the first 10 years then switch to fully amortizing or required a full payment as part of a balloon feature. According to a 2015 report by the Office of the Currency ...

Two of the most active originators of nonprime loans that don’t meet the qualified-mortgage test are working on new MBS deals, though market timing is a little uncertain at this point. Mike Fierman, managing partner of the Angel Oak Companies, said the Atlanta-based company has a transaction on the drawing board, but noted that the two recent hurricanes have slowed progress. “As a result … we are taking steps to re-verify the condition of all properties and are offering borrowers assistance if necessary,” said the managing partner. Fierman noted...

Social Finance, a former fintech darling, has been through the ringer of late: cofounder, CEO and “brain” Michael Cagney resigned midmonth amid sexual harassment allegations and other top executives have departed as well, raising questions about the company’s direction – and future. SoFi, as it’s known, was a “disruptor” of sorts in the financial services arena, refinancing student loans made to millennials at cheaper rates and then securitizing the paper. Over the past 18 months, the privately held startup has been...

Demand in the secondary market for credit risk could help increase issuance of prime non-agency mortgage-backed securities, according to industry analysts. A significant number of investors at the ABS East conference last week said deals across the MBS and ABS markets have been oversubscribed, with the supply of new issuance in recent months seen as insufficient. The conference was produced by Information Management Network in Miami Beach. Peter Sack, a managing director at Credit Suisse, said...

Nonprime lenders defended mortgages underwritten with borrowers’ bank statements after criticism of the loans by Fitch Ratings. Steven Schwalb, CEO of Angel Oak Home Loans, a nonprime lender that offers bank-statement mortgages, noted that the loans measure borrowers’ cash flow more precisely than the tax returns used for traditional income verification. “We’re comfortable with the risk of that borrower,” he added, during a panel discussion at the ABS East conference produced by Information Management Network last week in Miami Beach. Bank-statement mortgages account...