Estimating where MBS prices might be headed has never been an easy game – and thanks to the debt crisis in Greece and a stock meltdown in China, it’s become a whole lot more difficult of late. But for now, analysts and market watchers are certain of one thing: MBS prices have been volatile the past two weeks thanks to a flight to quality, forcing investors everywhere to buy U.S. Treasuries. And because mortgages track Treasuries, yields have fallen and prices have increased. “The Greek crisis already has taken...
A number of trade groups that represent firms involved in the securitization market are pushing for an appeal to be heard in a case that has significant implications for the MBS and ABS markets. A ruling in May by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in Madden v. Midland Funding determined that nonbanks shouldn’t receive the federal preemption of state law that has been allotted to banks under the National Bank Act. “The outcome of the case would significantly impair...
“After the ‘taper tantrum’ you had a whole bunch of institutions that got annihilated when the 10-year Treasury rate moved," said analyst Christophe Whalen of KBRS.
The nation’s subservicers increased their contracts to a record high $1.350 trillion at March 31 as tougher regulations continued to play a key role in the shifting of processing chores away from depositories to nonbanks. On a sequential basis, contracts increased by 7.1 percent in the first quarter and 14.4 percent compared to March 31, 2014, according to a new Inside Mortgage Finance ranking. Only four banks – Flagstar, Cenlar, Wells Fargo and Bank of America – were among the top 20 subservicers. Overall, at March 31, subservicers were...[Includes one data table]
CMLA argues that “moving implementation to January [from October] will allow lenders and settlement service providers a more gradual implementation of the new disclosures in a lower pressure environment.”