With the Federal Reserve expected to raise its benchmark overnight lending rate this year, interest rates on new mortgages are also projected to go up. Higher rates on mortgages are likely to cause a significant decline in prepayments on post-crisis jumbo mortgages and will increase default risk, according to Morningstar Credit Ratings. Within the first 12 months of origination, prepayment rates on post-crisis jumbos included in non-agency mortgage-backed securities have ...

The number of lenders offering mortgages to foreign-national borrowers has increased significantly in recent years. The product is seen as another way for non-agency lenders to differentiate themselves, though industry analysts warn that lending to foreign nationals involves some unique risks. A foreign national is a person that resides in a country where they’re neither a citizen nor permanent resident. Angel Oak Mortgage Solutions, Caliber Home Loans, Citadel Servicing ...

PennyMac Financial Services has significantly curtailed its originations of jumbo mortgages in recent years, and ended 2016 nearly out of the sector all together. PennyMac didn’t have any jumbo originations in the fourth quarter and as of the end of 2016, the nonbank only had $1.0 million in locked jumbos in its pipeline.Citigroup has entered into a subservicing agreement with Cenlar for the bank’s non-agency mortgages. Servicing is expected to be transferred ... [Includes four briefs]

The jumbo mortgage-backed security Redwood Trust is set to issue on Jan. 20 received improved pricing compared with the company’s previous deal issued in October. The new MBS is fairly similar to the prior bond, indicating stronger demand from investors. The $343.28 million Sequoia Mortgage Trust 2017-1 priced last week. The super-senior tranche priced 1-20 back of Fannie 3.5s, which was four ticks tighter than Redwood’s previous offering, according to an analysis by Wells Fargo Securities ...

Large swaths of investors will continue to avoid buying non-agency mortgage-backed securities unless Congress passes investor-friendly reforms, according to Chris Katopis, executive director of the Association of Mortgage Investors. “Private capital has virtually left the U.S. mortgage market,” he said. “The future is likely to reflect a similar situation unless Congress helps establish the necessary systems, structures and standards for private capital to return.” In a recent study published by ...

The types of home loans included in prime non-agency mortgage-backed securities issued during the fourth quarter of 2016 varied somewhat compared with issuance from recent quarters, according to an analysis by Inside Nonconforming Markets. Some $907.8 million in prime non-agency MBS was issued during the fourth quarter. Collateral in the deals shifted more toward adjustable-rate mortgages, interest-only mortgages and refinances. ARMs ... [Includes one data chart]

A significant number of borrowers with subprime mortgages originated in 2002 and beyond are prime targets for refinances, according to analysts at Black Knight Financial Services. More than 600,000 subprime mortgages are currently performing, according to Wesley Winter, a senior modeler at Black Knight. He said that while all of the borrowers aren’t necessarily attractive targets for refinances, there’s $10.0 billion to $25.0 billion in potential refi opportunities involving ...

NewLeaf Wholesale recently added four products to its “specialty” mortgage offerings with relatively lenient underwriting standards. The loans are aimed at borrowers who don’t qualify for conforming mortgages. The lender is now offering a jumbo mortgage that allows loan-to-value ratios up to 90.0 percent without private mortgage insurance, a residual-income product, an asset-depletion product and a product for foreign investors. The loans join NewLeaf’s other specialty products ...

With President-elect Donald Trump set to take office and Republicans in control of Congress, trade groups representing banks reiterated calls for revisions to standards for qualified mortgages. Banks are pushing for QM status to be applied to any mortgage held in portfolio, even if the loans have characteristics that would otherwise make them non-QMs subject to greater liability. In a letter this month to leaders of Congress, Rob Nichols, president and CEO of the American Bankers Association ...

Shared-equity mortgage arrangements from for-profit investors offer help for borrowers that otherwise might not qualify for a mortgage while also introducing risks, according to analysts at the Urban Institute’s Housing Finance Policy Center. In a shared-equity transaction, a third party helps a mortgage borrower purchase a home in exchange for some of the home-price appreciation. The HFPC noted that shared-equity transactions reduce the amount of money required from ...