Significant increases in all major collateral categories pushed non-mortgage ABS issuance up 44.3 percent from the first to the second quarter of 2011, according to a new Inside MBS & ABS ranking and analysis. ABS production revved up to $43.2 billion in the second quarter, the highest level since the third quarter of 2009. That brought year-to-date issuance to $73.2 billion, some 28.2 percent ahead of the pace during the first six months of 2010. Deals backed by loans to purchase or lease cars and other vehicles continued to account for the biggest slice of the market. Vehicle ABS issuance rose ... [contains two data charts]

Residential mortgage lending fell sharply in the second quarter, sinking to levels not seen since the depth of the financial market meltdown in late 2008. Lenders originated an estimated $265.0 billion in 1-4 family mortgages during the second quarter, down 18.5 percent from the first three months of the year. Production barely topped the $260.0 billion in mortgage originations posted in the fourth quarter of 2008, which was the lowest quarterly out-put since early 2000. Third-quarter production appears to be ... [includes two data charts]

Thanks to low mortgage rates, the government share of the home purchase market rose in June, according to new numbers compiled from the Campbell/Inside Mortgage HousingPulse Tracking Survey. But the latest survey also highlighted several factors that are likely to put downward pressure on home prices in the balance of this year. Mortgage rates have been falling for the past several months, dipping to below 4.5 percent in June for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages financed through Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and FHA, Inside Mortgage Finance’s weekly sampling of rates reveals. This has helped ... [contains one graph]

Some federally regulated depository institutions are scrambling to meet a July 29 deadline to register with the Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System and Registry to avoid possible sanctions by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Although the covered institutions have begun registering their mortgage loan originators as required by the Secure and Fair Enforcement for Mortgage Licensing Act, there is some confusion about other employees whose mortgage-related responsibilities are not as clear cut as those of MLOs, said compliance experts. Such employees include those who ...

Bank of America’s staggering $13.2 billion net loss on its mortgage banking operations overwhelmed fairly stable performance by the rest of the industry during the second quarter, according to a new analysis of earnings reports from 13 lenders by Inside Mortgage Trends. Including BofA’s huge loss, the group posted an aggregate loss of $9.8 billion for the second quarter, drowning out a modest $2.9 billion profit during the first three months of the year. The landmine in BofA’s second quarter results was a $14.0 billion provision for ... [includes one data chart and one graph]

It’s been one year since the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act has been enacted, and industry representatives remain anxious about the negative effects they expect the legislation will have on the mortgage market and the cost and availability of mortgage credit. Coming up with any new mortgage products at all will be one of the numerous challenges posed by Dodd-Frank, thanks in particular to the burdensome, 5 percent risk-retention requirement, according to Larry Platt, a partner with law firm K&L Gates in Washington, DC. “Under the Dodd-Frank risk-retention requirement, there’s ...

Loan servicers must deal with increasing paperwork and time demands, and they are often unequipped for new reporting requirements resulting from the Dodd-Frank Act. Firms such as SourceHOV say they can provide servicers with a strategy for dealing with the additional work new regulations are creating. One of the more onerous requirements is the need to handle qualified written requests. Servicers are also required to acknowledge receipt of any request. “Servicers really have two options when it comes to compliance,” said Michael Zwall, the director of mortgage services for SourceHOV, a consulting firm. “First, a servicer can decide to develop ...

Illinois Governor Pat Quinn (D) announced late last week the creation of a special fund that will use the state’s allocation of federal Hardest Hit Fund dollars to purchase distressed loans in the Chicago area and permanently modify them to affordable levels. The Mortgage Resolution Fund will extract $100 million of Illinois’ $445.7 million of HHF resources for the cause. The MRF will buy delinquent loans from lenders and capital markets trading desks at net present value, and each qualifying debt will be “brought into alignment with current values.” Chicago has suffered a ...

Purchase-mortgage lending has been in a slump since the housing market crashed three years ago, but a downturn in refinance activity is pushing lenders across the country to push financing for homebuyers with special deals and incentives. Last week, Fifth Third Mortgage Company, a subsidiary of Fifth Third Bank and the 13th largest mortgage originator according to Inside Mortgage Finance, announced reduced interest rates for purchase-money borrowers. During the first quarter, only 22 percent of the company’s production came from purchase mortgages, below ...

More borrowers who have remained current on their mortgage are choosing strategic defaults, raising fears of a renewed increase of underwater borrowers with higher origination balances walking away from their mortgage obligations, according to a recent report by Moody’s Investors Service. Moody’s analysts found that between 12 to 24 percent of performing mortgage loans, depending on the asset type, have loan-to-value ratios that are higher than those of defaulted mortgages. They also have risen more steeply compared to other ...