The top five producers of jumbos continue to offer the mortgages. The production picture is less clear at nonbanks, which don’t have portfolio capacity.
New Residential, Redwood and Two Harbors sold non-agency MBS holdings as REITs were hit with a surge of margin calls from their lenders. Efforts by the federal government to prop up the mortgage market haven’t done much for non-agency players.
Originations of both ARMs and IOs increased in the fourth quarter and in all of 2019. Growth among IO lenders even outpaced the increase in total first-lien originations. (Includes two data charts.)
Non-agency loans account for about 30% of all residential mortgages outstanding and, unlike with servicing for the GSEs or government-insured mortgages, there’s no standardization in how servicers will respond to borrowers facing financial difficulties tied to the coronavirus.
Non-QM MBS forum delayed; Patch rebrands as Noah and continues to offer home-equity sharing product; originations up and income down at fix-and-flip lender Sachem Capital in 2019; Anchor Loans taps former Radian executive as COO; Velocity late filing annual report due to coronavirus.
Mortgage-related real estate investment trusts, including Redwood, have been hit hard by a wave of margin calls due to drastic declines in the value of their MBS. Redwood said it has met its margin calls so far.
AG Mortgage Investment Trust filed a lawsuit to stop Royal Bank of Canada from selling commercial MBS the company is a counterparty to. The bank for now has decided to postpone the auction.
During the 2008 financial crisis, investors in non-agency MBS sought repurchases from issuers, citing faulty underwriting and disclosures. A similar surge in putbacks could be on the way for the auto ABS market.