Sharp declines in retail originations of jumbo mortgages at a number of major lenders contributed to a decline in the channel’s share of jumbo originations in the first quarter of 2017, according to a new analysis by Inside Nonconforming Markets. The retail channel accounted for 79.3 percent of the $49.49 billion of jumbo originations reported by a diverse group of top lenders in the first quarter, down from an 82.6 percent share in the fourth quarter of 2016. Actual jumbo retail production reported by the group was...[Includes one data table]

Redwood Trust is set to end a slight lull in its issuance of jumbo mortgage-backed securities with a new $349.46 million deal. The firm issued one jumbo MBS per month in the first three months of the year while planned Sequoia Mortgage Trust 2017-4 is set to close at the end of this month, according to presale reports by Kroll Bond Rating Agency and Moody’s Investors Service. At a recent investor conference, Marty Hughes, Redwood’s CEO, said...

American International Group’s jumbo conduit has purchased a significant volume of mortgages in the past year and has plans to issue non-agency mortgage-backed securities. As of April, AIG Investments had purchased prime jumbo mortgages with an original balance of approximately $4.80 billion, according to Fitch Ratings. AIG launched its residential mortgage lending division in 2013 and has ramped up acquisition activity since then. Fitch recently assessed...

A loan exchange operated by MAXEX looks to be a new source of jumbo mortgages. The exchange was recently assessed by Fitch Ratings and loans sourced from the exchange have been included in jumbo mortgage-backed securities issued by JPMorgan Chase. MAXEX was founded in 2012 but didn’t launch its LoanExchange platform until June 2016. Mortgages with an unpaid principal balance of more than $500.0 million have traded on the platform, according to Fitch. “JPMorgan Chase is...

Lenders planning to originate non-qualified mortgages have many sources to find potential borrowers, according to officials at Angel Oak Mortgage Solutions. AOMS focuses its business on non-QM originations via the correspondent and wholesale channels. Tom Hutchens, a senior vice president of sales and marketing at Angel Oak, has detailed the ways loan officers can find non-QM borrowers in a series of webinars. He suggests...

Ocwen Financial recently filed a lawsuit against Fidelity Information Services, which completed a two-year review of Ocwen as part of an order by the California Department of Business Oversight. Ocwen alleged that FIS submitted false, fraudulent and improper invoices for the review, including invoices from strip clubs and casinos. FIS has disputed the allegations. The Structured Finance Industry Group is...

Reverse-mortgage originations with FHA insurance rose in the first quarter of 2017 from the prior quarter and from the same period last year despite a long-term slowdown in Home Equity Conversion Mortgage activity, an analysis of agency data found. HECM lenders, including an increasing number of nonbanks, produced $4.5 billion in new HECM loans during the first three months of 2017, up 16.9 percent from the prior quarter. Production also was up 16.6 percent year-over year. Purchase reverse mortgages comprised 83.6 percent of HECMs produced during the period. Borrowers appeared to favor reverse mortgages with adjustable rates over fixed-rate HECMs, which accounted for only 10.7 percent of HECMs in the first quarter. Despite increased originations in the first quarter, FHA data show a gradual decline in HECM endorsements since peaking in FY 2009 with ... [Charts]

An industry trade group is requesting that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau exclude reverse mortgages from the income-reporting requirement of the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act.The National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association is seeking an exemption similar to the HMDA exemptions for rate spread; Home Ownership and Equity Protection Act status; origination charges; discount points; lender credits; total loan costs; points and fees; prepayment penalty term; and balloon payments. However, should the CFPB require income reporting on reverse mortgages, the NRMLA would want further guidance and clarification. Home Equity Conversion Mortgage loans make up over 99 percent of the reverse mortgage market today, and have not dropped below 85 percent since 1993, according to the group. NRMLA’s request is part of a broader comment on ...

Jumbo mortgage production declined 32.9 percent during the first quarter of 2017, along with virtually every other part of the home-loan market, according to a new Inside Mortgage Finance ranking and analysis. An estimated $70.0 billion of non-agency jumbo mortgages were originated during the first quarter, a 30.0 percent decline from the previous three-month period. In addition, some $29.0 billion of conforming-jumbo mortgages were delivered into Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae mortgage-backed securities in the first three months of the year. These are loans on one-unit properties that exceed the baseline agency loan limits and are eligible because they’re secured by homes in designated high-cost markets. The agency-jumbo market was...[Includes three data tables]

Commercial banks and thrifts continued to have modest interest in holding non-mortgage ABS during the first quarter of 2017, according to a new Inside MBS & ABS ranking and analysis. The banking industry held $123.43 billion of ABS in its held-to-maturity and available-for-sale investment portfolios at the end of March. That was down 0.3 percent from December. The overall supply of ABS outstanding, excluding collateralized debt obligations, fell...[Includes two data tables]