Securitization of commercial mortgages was down slightly in 2016 as a result of a sharp drop in the non-agency commercial MBS market, according to a new Inside MBS & ABS analysis. Meanwhile, the agency multifamily MBS platforms cranked out record new issuance last year. In total, some $209.03 billion of commercial-property MBS were issued last year, a 3.1 percent drop from 2015. It still ranked as the second most-productive year in commercial MBS issuance since 2007, the year before the financial market meltdown. But non-agency CMBS issuance fell...[Includes one data table]
This year, the commercial MBS market will see the influence of the newly effective Securities and Exchange Commission rule on CMBS risk retention, which likely will mean higher credit quality but also a degree of unpredictability when it comes to issuance, according to industry analysts. At Wells Fargo Securities, analysts who cover the CMBS space are forecasting non-agency issuance of $65.0 billion in 2017. “While CMBS issuance has historically grown with the economy, this is not exactly the typical cycle,” they said in a recent client note. “Economic growth has been uneven and property fundamentals seem to be maturing.” Requiring CMBS issuers to retain at least 5 percent of the credit risk adds...
With interest rates on mortgages expected to go up this year, some lenders are putting an emphasis on loan originators who can close purchase mortgages. Economists at the Mortgage Bankers Association predict that the average interest rate on a 30-year fixed rate mortgage will climb from 3.70 percent last year to 4.50 percent in 2017. The higher rates will help prompt a 47.7 percent decline in refi volume in 2017 compared with the estimated $901.0 billion in refi originations last year, according to the MBA. Dave Stevens, president and CEO of the MBA, said...
The Citadel CEO noted that his shop is receiving many unsolicited resumes from mortgage workers employed at conventional shops, a sign that some firms are about to cut staff.
According to the Mayer Brown law firm, “Financial services companies that hoped for immediate regulatory relief when the Trump administration assumed control may have to wait a bit longer…”