Pricing for jumbo mortgage-backed securities has improved in recent months, prompting an increase in issuance from some firms, but bank demand remains robust. “Although the difference has narrowed, our whole-loan sale execution for most jumbo loans continues to be more attractive than our securitization execution as a result of strong demand from banks,” Brett Nicholas, president of Redwood Trust, said this week during a call with investors. In the third quarter of 2014, Redwood issued ...

Two Harbors Investment is working to increase its non-agency conduit activity, launching a nonprime product along with a low-downpayment jumbo for high-quality borrowers. Officials at the real estate investment trust said Two Harbors also plans to be a regular issuer of non-agency mortgage-backed securities. “It has been clear to us for some time that the market has a need for products like this, and we are excited to be able to extend our reach as a capital provider to these segments ...

With growth via acquisitions of servicing portfolios on hold, Ocwen Financial is pursuing a number of different initiatives, including originations of non-agency mortgages. The nonbank primarily known for servicing high-touch mortgages is currently testing originations of jumbo mortgages and working toward originating nonprime mortgages. “The business is building a robust new product pipeline and is currently in the market testing a new jumbo mortgage product,” Michael Bourque ...

Ocwen Financial is working on a settlement with the New York Department of Financial Services regarding various servicing-related concerns raised by the state regulator. The $100 million in legal reserves that Ocwen booked in the third quarter of 2014 for a potential settlement is the minimum the company expects to spend, according to William Erbey, Ocwen’s chairman. “I would caution that this does not mean that we have settled with the [NYDFS] ... [Includes two briefs]

Although credit unions have boosted their share of new mortgage production in recent years, they continue to be only modest investors in residential MBS, a situation that isn’t likely to change anytime soon. According to figures compiled by Inside MBS & ABS, the credit union industry held $105.27 billion in residential MBS on its books at June 30, a 2.4 percent sequential decline. Compared to the same period a year earlier, their investment in mortgage securities fell by even more: down 4.8 percent. And that may not be such a bad thing. MBS prices were...[Includes one data chart]

A New York trial court judge has dismissed an investor lawsuit alleging fraud by Merrill Lynch in the sale of residential MBS because the plaintiffs failed to meet the state’s pleading standard for fraud claims. Justice Charles Ramos of the New York Supreme Court dismissed an amended complaint brought by Phoenix Light SF Ltd. and other investors against Merrill Lynch and several big banks. The complaint combined...

The non-agency mortgage-backed securities market got clarity about risk-retention requirements in a new final rule approved this week by six federal regulators. Given current market conditions, it is unlikely to have any impact. The regulators created an exemption big enough to drive a truck through. Sponsors of non-agency MBS backed by qualified residential mortgages are not required to retain a 5 percent interest in the transaction. As expected, the QRM parameters were lined up with ...

It could take years for the non-agency mortgage-backed securities market to even approach the depth and liquidity it had before the housing meltdown, according to experts participating on a panel during the annual convention of the Mortgage Bankers Association this week in Las Vegas. The main reason non-agency MBS issuance does not amount to much is the huge bank demand for jumbo mortgages, said Tom Millon, president and CEO of Capital Markets Cooperative. Only about 77 percent of ...

Underwriting trends for jumbo mortgage-backed securities were mixed as of the third quarter of 2014, according to an analysis by Inside Nonconforming Markets. While some issuers started to include mortgages with higher loan-to-value ratios, average combined LTV ratios in jumbo MBS were actually higher for deals issued in the fourth quarter of 2013 than those priced in the third quarter of 2014. Average credit scores on issuance for the third quarter were ... [Includes one data chart]