Flagstar Bank priced its first post-crisis jumbo MBS this week and other big banks could start issuing deals this year, according to industry analysts. Since 2010, the main issuers in the fledgling jumbo MBS market have been nonbanks, with banks content to hold jumbos in portfolio. In recent years, the only bank to issue prime non-agency MBS has been JPMorgan Chase, which has packaged jumbos with some mortgages eligible for sale to the government-sponsored enterprises in its deals. The $443.8 million Flagstar Mortgage Trust 2017-1 follows...
Wells Fargo remained the top producer of first-lien mortgages with a hefty 27.1 percent increase from the first quarter, gaining ground on all of its nearest competitors.
“While originations to-date have been nominal, we expect a ramp-up production from here as we continue to increase marketing and consumer awareness of the Ally Home offering,” Christopher Halmy said.
A few big-ticket corporate shifts in mortgage strategy led to a surge in bulk transfers of agency mortgage servicing rights during the second quarter of 2017, according to an exclusive Inside Mortgage Trends analysis of agency mortgage-backed securities data. A total of $133.36 billion of servicing attached to single-family MBS issued by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae changed hands during the most recent quarter. That was up 21.5 percent from ... [Includes two data charts]
In a recent conference call, Fairholme Capital Management founder and Chief Investment Officer Bruce Berkowitz stood his ground regarding the firm’s investment in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac junior preferred shares, believing that the bet will pay off in time. He made it clear that Fairholme, at this time, has no plans to sell its stake, which the firm has valued at roughly $115.7 million. But Berkowitz also made it clear he sees little chance of GSE reform passing any time soon, and he anticipates that Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Mel Watt will not permit the Fannie/Freddie capital position to fall to zero in early 2018.
The banking industry reported a widespread increase in net income from mortgage-banking activities during the second quarter of 2017, according to an exclusive Inside Mortgage Trends analysis of earnings reports from publicly traded companies. All 25 companies in the roundup reported positive mortgage-banking results for the most recent quarter, which saw increased production volume and stable mortgage interest rates. As a group, they earned $2.673 billion from ... [Includes one data chart]
Fannie Mae says it expects “a slight increase” in the share of its single-family business that has higher debt-to-income ratios as a result of a tweak to the company’s Desktop Underwriter system. The government-sponsored enterprise generally limits DTI ratios to 45 percent. Under the previous version of DU, applications with debt ratios up to 50 percent could be approved if there were compensating factors, such as a loan-to-value ratio below 80 percent or at least 12 months of ...