Non-agency issuers produced $32.16 billion of new commercial MBS, a 40 percent increase from the second quarter.

A total of $51.18 billion of commercial mortgages were securitized during the third quarter of 2014 as the sector reached a new post-crisis high in new issuance, according to a new market analysis by Inside MBS & ABS. Commercial mortgage securitization rose 38.4 percent from the second quarter and represented the biggest three-month period in new issuance since the third quarter of 2007. For the first nine months of 2014, commercial mortgage securitization totaled $119.76 billion, down 24.4 percent from the same period last year. New issuance was off on a year-to-date basis because of the slump in production during the first half of 2014. Both sides of the market posted...[Includes one data chart]

Participants in the residential mortgage market were largely pleased with the risk-retention requirements finalized last week for certain non-agency MBS. However, the requirements, which also cover commercial MBS and other ABS, drew a wide range of criticism from others. “The short version is that the rule doesn’t require meaningful credit risk retention where it counts, and imposes significant market-shaping safe-harbor requirements where skin in the game isn’t so important,” said Adam Levitin, a professor of law at the Georgetown University Law Center. He noted...

One veteran mortgage trade group official, a staunch Republican no less, told us that Lawsky is an “honest and bright guy,” adding that he understands the issues.

The share price of Ocwen Financial recently fell to a 52-week low of $18.47, a 70 percent decline that has wiped out at least $5 billion in market equity.

Wells Fargo's origination market share keeps dropping, but is still more than double that of its closest competitor, JPMorgan Chase.

Once word leaks out that a mortgage company is a takeover target, many LOs start weighing their options, contacting competitors who tried to recruit them in the past.

Meanwhile, 84 lenders contributed to Redwood’s pending issuance, led by First Republic Bank with a 32.6 percent share.

In three-plus years of originating subprime mortgages, Citadel has suffered two foreclosures and a handful of delinquencies, but no losses.

When rates take a noticeable dive – as they have the past few weeks – mortgage lenders contemplating a sale sometimes have a change of heart, opting to ride the new production wave. But this time around, that doesn’t appear to be the case. “Most every lender I speak to understands this to be a very temporary event prior to a relatively cold and uncertain winter,” said M&A advisor Rick Roque of Menlo Company. Over the past two months, Inside Mortgage Finance has found 10 publicly announced M&A transactions with several more likely signed that weren’t disclosed. Roque, who’s working on several deals, said...