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Inside MBS & ABS

July 3, 2014

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New Residential MBS Issuance Gathered Momentum During Second Quarter; Non-Agency Sector Faltered

Agency issuance of single-family MBS rallied during the second quarter of 2014, offsetting a slump in production of non-agency MBS and non-mortgage ABS, according to a new market analysis by Inside MBS & ABS. Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae combined to produce $212.23 billion of single-family MBS during the April-to-June cycle. That was up 13.3 percent from the first three months of 2014, which was the weakest quarter for agency MBS production since the first quarter of 2001. On a year-to-date basis, agency MBS issuance was...[Includes two data charts] Read More

Treasury Seeking to Revive Non-Agency MBS Market with New Practices and Standards

The Treasury Department announced late last week that it is working to develop market practices and standards that would be necessary “to support a safe and sustainable non-agency MBS housing finance channel of significant scale.” As part of the effort, the Treasury posed nine questions to industry participants and is accepting comments on the issue until Aug. 8. Michael Stegman, counselor to the Treasury for housing finance policy, said regulators have addressed most of the problems seen in the non-agency MBS market before the financial crisis. “The last remaining piece of the puzzle is putting in place standards and mechanisms to protect investors in residential MBS, while also clearly defining issuer responsibilities so that they have the confidence to return to the market at scale,” he said. Regulators may have “addressed”... Read More

MBS Prices Continue to Hover Near Their Highs for the Year; How Long Can it Last?

MBS prices have been hovering around their highs for the year and could stay that way through the fall with minor corrections occurring along the way. “Prices have risen even on the good economic news,” said Joe Farr, director of sales and marketing for MBSQuoteline. “But they fell by about 1 percent over the past week.” Recently, when the Consumer Price Index rose, there was... Read More

Moody’s, Fitch: New Trends Affecting Credit Quality of Residential MBS, ABS Securitizations

The credit quality of the collateral backing the most active types of structured finance securities is slipping, but remains above pre-credit crisis levels, according to Moody’s Investors Service. In a report issued last week, Moody’s cited several trends that signal the potential for higher credit risk, but the rating service said that many sponsors are building in subordination levels and other structural features that result in higher credit quality. “The degree of weaker underwriting and collateral quality in structured transactions varies... Read More

Eminent Domain Comes Up for Air Again on East, West Coasts as Industry Groups Go Back on Defense

The issue of eminent domain is rearing its head again, compelling mortgage and securitization industry groups to once more mobilize their resources to deep-six the latest initiatives. The most recent manifestation of a resurgent interest in eminent domain is in California, where John Avalos, a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, has sponsored a resolution seeking to enter the city into a joint powers authority agreement with Richmond, CA, a vehicle by which both cities could seize underwater but performing mortgages using eminent domain. Avalos’ resolution targets... Read More

Agency REMIC Volume Dipped in 2Q14; Ginnie Most Active Issuer

Issuance of real estate mortgage investment conduits securities backed by agency MBS declined by 14.4 percent from the first quarter to the second, according to a new Inside MBS & ABS analysis. Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae issued a total of $51.5 billion of REMICs during the second quarter. That left year-to-date production at $111.8 billion midway through 2014, down 25.8 percent from the same point last year. Ginnie remained... Read More

Freddie Announces $285 Million ACIS Deal; GSE Risk-Sharing ‘Stellar’ One Year Later

Freddie Mac announced this week it has obtained insurance to cover some $285 million of losses on a pool of home loans as part of a risk-sharing effort encouraged by the government-sponsored enterprises’ regulator. The performance of these deals has been “stellar,” according to one analyst. The policies, tied to loans the GSE bought or guaranteed in the second quarter of 2013, were obtained under Freddie’s Agency Credit Insurance Structure. First rolled out in November 2013, this week’s most recent ACIS deal – the largest to date – demonstrates... Read More

Research Finds Securitized HELs have Higher Default Probability, Loss Severity Compared to Portfolio Loans

Securitization, particularly non-agency securitization of subprime and Alt A mortgages, has been widely blamed for the recent financial crisis, although less-studied home-equity loans also may have contributed, according to a government working paper. Results suggested that securitized home-equity loans have higher default risk and produce greater loss severity than similar loans held in portfolio by lenders, according to authors Michael LaCour-Little, a professor of finance at California State University at Fullerton, and Yanan Zhang, a financial economist at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. The authors sampled... Read More

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