The amount of jumbo mortgage servicing handled by the top servicers increased at a much faster rate in 2018 than the total amount of outstanding residential mortgages, according to a new ranking and analysis by Inside Nonconforming Markets. [Includes one data chart]

Ocwen Financial announced last week that it plans to launch non-agency originations in the second quarter of 2019, focusing on borrowers already in its servicing portfolio. The company detailed the plans in presentations to investors. Officials said Ocwen is expanding from originating agency mortgages into non-agency mortgages in an effort to maximize the potential to recapture borrowers in Ocwen’s servicing portfolio. The move is years in the making and follows a ...

Nonprime mortgages are performing better than expected and prepayment rates remain elevated, according to industry analysts. Fitch Ratings noted that 60+ day delinquency rates on nonprime mortgages in post-crisis mortgage-backed securities rated by the firm were less than 4.00 percent as of August. “The performance of Fitch-rated nonprime transactions has outperformed initial projections,” the rating service said. The average conditional prepayment rate ... [Includes one data chart]

Redwood Trust raised $194.0 million this week with the sale of convertible senior notes. Redwood said it will use the proceeds for various business and investment activities. The Capital Corps will launch a non-qualified mortgage program later this year. “The Capital Corps’ nontraditional prime borrowers come from the estimated $100.0 billion of homeowners seeking mortgages with loan-to-value ratios of less than 65.0 percent who are turned ... [Includes three briefs]

PennyMac Financial Services re-started its jumbo mortgage origination operations in the first quarter with plans to return as an issuer of jumbo mortgage-backed securities. The nonbank locked $21.0 million in jumbo production as of the end of March. Ocwen Financial reported net income of $2.6 million for the first quarter of 2018, putting a halt to an extended streak of quarterly losses. Ocwen is the largest subprime mortgage servicer, by far, and the firm ... [Includes three briefs]

Ron Faris, the current president and CEO of Ocwen Financial, will retire on June 30. After Ocwen’s pending acquisition of PHH Corp. closes, Glen Messina will be president and CEO of Ocwen, the nation’s largest subprime servicer. Messina was previously president and CEO of PHH. During the first quarter of 2018, Wells Fargo sold $1.60 billion of its holdings of vintage pick-a-pay mortgages. The sale generated a gain of $643.0 million for the bank. The buyer ... [Includes four briefs]

Ocwen Financial plans to resume growing its servicing and originations business by acquiring PHH. The transaction is scheduled to close in the second half of this year. Ocwen plans to acquire PHH with $360.0 million in cash and assume $119.0 million of outstanding corporate debt. According to Ocwen, there will be enough cash on PHH’s balance sheet to fund $260.0 million of the $360.0 million purchase price. Both companies have been struggling ... [Includes one data chart]

Citadel Servicing has increased its portfolio of nonprime mortgages in the past year and has taken steps to improve operations, according to Fitch Ratings. Citadel serviced mortgages with an unpaid principal balance of $1.1 billion as of the end of November, up from a $673.1 million portfolio as of the end of 2016. Some 1.8 percent of Citadel’s portfolio was 30 or more days delinquent as of November, according to Fitch. A significant portion of the portfolio was originated after ...

Delinquency rates on subprime mortgages increased in the third quarter after showing strong improvement earlier in the year. As of the end of September, the subprime delinquency rate was 18.61 percent, according to Black Knight. The rate increased from 16.80 percent in June. As with overall mortgage performance, hurricanes had an impact on subprime delinquencies. And while delinquencies increased, they’re below the 19.03 percent level at ... [Includes one data chart]

The nonprime mortgage-backed security closed by Angel Oak Capital Advisors at the end of November was oversubscribed, according to Lauren Hedvat, director of capital markets at the firm. The $210.2 million AOMT 2017-3 was backed by mortgages originated by Angel Oak Mortgage Solutions, Angel Oak Home Loans and Angel Oak Prime Bridge. Non-qualified mortgages accounted for 83.9 percent of the dollar volume in the MBS. Angel Oak said it’s ... [Includes two briefs]