Structured finance production held at historically high levels in the third quarter, though most sectors were down. Growth pockets included non-agency MBS and ABS. (Includes four data charts.)
Sales of purchase-money mortgages into the agency secondary market continued to gain momentum in the third quarter, but the refinance sector saw further erosion. (Includes two data charts.)
Over the four-month period from May to August, Fannie and Freddie purchased $46.18 billion of IPL and SHL loans, down 47.9% from the first four months of the year.
In the purchase market, the share of loans with credit scores ranging from 620 to 699 rose from 10.75% in the second quarter to 12.00% in the third quarter.
Although the GSEs have for several months seen declines in the share of investor and second-home mortgage purchases, it remains to be seen whether lenders will continue to deliver these loans into the non-agency market now that the caps have been withdrawn. (Includes two data charts.)
Sales to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac saw larger concentrations of higher-risk mortgages, in both the purchase and refinance sectors. But high-FICO loans continue to account for most GSE business. (Includes two data charts.)
Banks reported a 10% drop in retail originations through their mortgage banking operations in the second quarter. Loan sales also declined and likely continued to in the third quarter. (Includes two data charts.)
Veteran loan broker Michael Foote called it, “Good marketing more than anything, but they’ll just stack the loans and then sell them as soon as the new loans can be delivered…