In the past two weeks, BlackRock has completed auctions of vintage non-agency MBS with a total unpaid principal balance of $8.1 billion. While the sales had the potential to push too much supply into the market, investor demand for the securities appears to have been strong. The market absorbed the first auction, for $3.7 billion in mostly subprime MBS from 2006, “without a hiccup,” according to analysts at Barclays Capital. Credit Suisse submitted winning bids on all of the non-agency MBS auctioned by BlackRock in the past two weeks, with most of the securities quickly being placed with other investors, indicating strong demand. Of the $3.7 billion in non-agency MBS auctioned last week, 96 percent of the balance was placed...

More than two years have passed since Bank of America parted ways with Fannie Mae on selling new purchase-money loans to the government-sponsored enterprise and no remedy seems in sight regarding a resolution to the matter. “There’s no change that I’m aware of related to the Fannie Mae situation,” said a spokesman for the bank. “We’re able to handle our loan origination business just fine with Freddie Mac.” According to figures compiled by Inside MBS & ABS, BofA did sell...

The conditional default rate, or annualized liquidations, of non-agency MBS loans rose 20 basis points to 4.92 percent in the second quarter, after declining for seven consecutive quarters from 9.76 percent in the second quarter of 2012, Fitch Ratings reported this week. “The recent turnaround in the trend can be partly attributed to a growing portion of bank-held real estate owned properties, which typically liquidate much faster than those that are still in the foreclosure process,” said Fitch. The rate of completed foreclosures to REO property has trended higher for four consecutive quarters. The previous decline in the CDR was driven...

The modest rebound in non-agency MBS issuance during the first three months of 2014 fizzled during the second quarter of the year, according to a new analysis and ranking by Inside MBS & ABS. A total of just $1.60 billion of non-agency MBS were issued during the second quarter, a 62.7 percent decline from the previous period. It was the lowest quarterly volume in new issuance since the financial crisis of 2008. On a year-to-date basis, new issuance was...

The line of companies rolling out new loan menus for non-qualified mortgages is growing longer each week, but it remains to be seen which firm will be the first to issue a non-agency MBS. Citadel Servicing Corp., Irvine, CA, is working on a bond, but has been noncommittal about when it might come to market – and whether its first deal will be public or private. The privately-held nonbank is now funding more than $15 million a month in non-QM/nonprime products. Meanwhile, Impac Mortgage Holdings – an Alt A lender of yesteryear – has just entered...

The characteristics of mortgages included in jumbo mortgage-backed securities remained strong in the second quarter of 2014, according to a new analysis by Inside Nonconforming Markets. However, the high quality of jumbo MBS has not attracted enough investors to make issuance more appealing for banks than retaining the loans in portfolio. Debt-to-income ratios on loans included in the $1.03 billion in jumbo MBS issued in the second quarter averaged ... [Includes one data chart]

Impac Mortgage recently launched a suite of products that don’t meet the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s standards for qualified mortgages. The non-QMs are available via the correspondent channel and are aimed at prime borrowers. The lender refers to its offerings as “Alt QMs,” including a jumbo option, a program for loans slightly outside of agency guidelines and a program that purposefully excludes analysis of a borrower’s tax returns ...

Redwood Trust revved up its latest jumbo mortgage-backed security in a hurry with plans to issue a new deal that includes some loans that don’t meet standards for qualified mortgages. The deal also includes less than 100 percent due diligence. The weighted-average loan age on the $306.05 million Sequoia Mortgage Trust 2014-2 is 1.4 months, according to Kroll Bond Rating Agency. The latest issuance from JPMorgan Chase included mortgages that were ...

Credit Suisse plans to issue a $367.84 million jumbo mortgage-backed security, according to a preliminary term sheet obtained by Inside Nonconforming Markets. The deal is scheduled to close around July 30. While presale reports on CSMC Trust 2014-IVR3 have not been issued, Credit Suisse expects that the deal will have credit enhancement of 7.25 percent on the AAA-rated tranches, according to the term sheet. Some 56 percent of the mortgages ...

Jumbo borrowers in the market for mortgage financing often decide to work with the bank they already have a relationship with, according to new qualitative survey results from the Campbell/Inside Mortgage Finance HousingPulse Tracking Survey. Real estate agents participating in the survey were asked what factors drive an affluent homebuyer’s lender selection when opting for mortgage financing instead of an all-cash home purchase. “I’ve found they like to ...