FHA home-equity conversion mortgages have dominated originations of reverse mortgages but tighter underwriting requirements on HECMs are expected to prompt issuance of non-agency mortgage-backed securities backed by conventional reverse mortgages, according to industry analysts. “Many originators that were solely dependent on HECM originations have begun to diversify into jumbo, uninsured, proprietary reverse mortgages, which allow higher proceeds amounts than HECMs,” ...

Ocwen Financial completed its acquisition of PHH Corp. this week. Glen Messina was appointed as president and CEO of Ocwen as the $360 million cash transaction closed. He said the merger provides “a foundation to enable Ocwen to resume new business and growth activities to offset portfolio runoff.” New Penn Financial launched a non-qualified mortgage product last week that allows borrowers to qualify for a loan based on their assets. To qualify ... [Includes three briefs]

A wide majority of banks and thrifts continued to increase their first-lien residential mortgage holdings in the second quarter, according to a new ranking and analysis by Inside Nonconforming Markets. Some $2.04 trillion of residential first liens were held in bank and thrift portfolios as of the end of June, up 0.9 percent from March and up 5.2 percent compared with June 2017. Among the top 50 banks and thrifts, only six reduced their holdings on an annual basis ... [Includes one data chart]

Deephaven Mortgage is preparing to issue its largest nonprime mortgage-backed security to date, according to presale reports published this week. The planned $326.1 million Deephaven Residential Mortgage Trust 2018-3 will top a $308.2 million deal the firm issued in January. Mortgages in the new deal look similar to previous issuance from Deephaven. The loans have a weighted-average credit score of 700, an average combined loan-to-value ratio of 72.7 percent and an average ...

Originations of interest-only mortgages increased in the second quarter, but not enough to move production ahead of the pace set halfway through 2017, according to a new ranking and analysis by Inside Nonconforming Markets. A group of 15 lenders originated $5.08 billion of IOs in the second quarter, a 25.2 percent increase from the previous period. Through the first six months of the year, the lenders had $9.13 billion of IO originations ... [Includes one data chart]

Issuance of expanded-credit mortgage-backed securities is moving at a steady pace, but deal sizes are declining and loan seasoning is increasing, suggesting a slowdown in originations. Redwood Trust is set to issue a $362.7 million deal, according to presale reports by Kroll Bond Rating Agency and Moody’s Investors Service. It’s the fourth expanded-credit MBS of the year from Redwood, including a $520.5 million issuance in May and a $417.0 million deal in July. The average seasoning ...

Chimera Investment is preparing to issue a non-agency mortgage-backed security in which all the loans are eligible for sale to the government-sponsored enterprises. The deal is backed solely by mortgages on investment properties, according to presale reports by DBRS and Moody’s Investors Service. The deal follows a similar issuance in May by Flagstar Bank as industry analysts suggest that non-agency MBS offer issuers better execution than delivering some types of ...

JPMorgan Chase is changing the servicing-fee structure in its latest prime non-agency mortgage-backed security. Many of the loans will be subject to a variable servicing fee as opposed to the flat fee traditionally used by Chase and many other issuers. Some 80.1 percent of the unpaid principal balance of the planned $513.9 million issuance is subject to the variable fee, a structure that is more commonly seen on MBS backed by nonperforming mortgages. The servicing fee will ...

New Penn Financial launched a non-agency product for condominiums last week. The SmartCondo offering allows for two non-warrantable features, which are characteristics that exclude the loans from being delivered to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. For example, New Penn will allow a higher portion of commercial space, reduced pre-sale requirements and increased flexibility for single-entity ownership, among other features. The mortgages are available for ... [Includes one brief]

With intense competition for originations of jumbo mortgages, the correspondent channel is experiencing volatility, according to an analysis by Inside Nonconforming Markets. A survey of major players in the market shows correspondent production of jumbo loans rose sharply from the first to the second quarter, though volumes and market share are down on an annual basis. Among a group of lenders that generated $55.77 billion in jumbo originations in the second quarter ... [Includes one data chart]