After more than a year of steady declines in delinquencies on securitized non-QMs, delinquency rates have fluctuated in recent months.

Non-agency MBS issuance nearly frozen; Redwood raises funds with debt sale; DBRS accepts more firms for due diligence.

Altisource setting up alternative lending operations; Reverse Mortgage Funding offers non-agency MBS with proprietary reverse mortgages; Dovenmuehle assessed as “above average” by Moody’s.

A handful of real estate investment trusts acquired non-QMs at a discount as interest rates increased during the first quarter. Lenders selling the loans took some losses but appear to have weathered the storm.

MFA Financial took a large loss in the first quarter as rising interest rates reduced the value of non-QMs on the REIT’s balance sheet. Lima One, a business-purpose lender now owned by MFA, was a bright spot.

Barclays sourced many of the mortgages in the MBS from Invigorate Finance, an aggregator founded in March 2021.

Originations at Velocity Financial increased in the first quarter despite an increase in interest rates. The lender’s income declined, though much of the drift was tied to a refi of corporate debt that could be beneficial in the long term.

The exchange that connects lenders with non-agency investors will facilitate sales of debt service coverage ratio loans for investment properties.

Issuers of expanded-credit MBS stocked deals with $14.10 billion of volume in the first quarter of 2022, a record for the sector. A rise in interest rates helped to increase securitization activity. (Includes three data charts.)

Redwood’s profit took a hit in the first quarter, with non-agency mortgage aggregation and loan sales slowing amid a rise in interest rates. Still, officials at Redwood were happy with the REIT’s performance.