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Inside MBS & ABS

January 16, 2015

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Non-Agency MBS Issuance Finished Strong in 2014, But Not Enough to Match 2013 Volume

Issuers of non-agency MBS finished 2014 with a flourish, as production totaled $10.63 billion in the fourth quarter, according to a new Inside MBS & ABS analysis and ranking. But despite a 4.1 percent gain during the fourth quarter, 2014’s total issuance of $35.14 billion came up 9.6 percent short of the total for 2013. The only sector that showed any growth last year was the scratch-and-dent market, where issuance was up 17.6 percent from 2013. In fact, securitization of nonperforming and re-performing mortgages accounted for...[Includes three data charts] Read More

No Large Spikes in Ginnie Mae Prepayments Expected Following FHA Annual Premium Cut

Analysts are expecting Ginnie Mae prepayments to increase moderately in the wake of last week’s announcement that FHA is reducing its annual mortgage insurance premium by 50 basis points. Specifically, the annual MIP would be lowered 50 bps for 30-year fixed-rate FHA mortgages, although the new charges continue to vary depending on loan-to-value ratio and loan amount. Streamlined refinances of FHA loans endorsed before June 2009 are not covered by the new pricing, nor are 15-year FHA mortgages. The timing of the announcement reflects... Read More

After a Booming Risk-Sharing Performance in 2014, Fannie/Freddie Goals Jump to $270 Billion for 2015

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac had a stellar year for their risk-sharing transactions in 2014, selling off portions of the credit risk associated with $369.7 billion of MBS, greater than four times the $84.7 billion amount seen in the prior year, according to Fitch Ratings. Meanwhile, “performance of the transactions remains exceptionally clean,” analysts at Fitch said in a new report this week. The performance seen in 2013 was based... Read More

Ocwen Full Steam Ahead on MBS Clean-up Calls and Ginnie Buyouts? Looks That Way

Although Ocwen Financial is in regulatory hot water with California – a dicey proposition given the state’s importance to the mortgage industry – the nation’s fourth-largest servicer will continue with a strategy of non-agency MBS clean-up calls and Ginnie Mae buyouts. At least, that’s what company Executive Vice President and Chief Investment Officer John Britti told Inside MBS & ABS late this week. Britti confirmed continuance of the strategy, but declined to offer any new details or color. The big question, of course, is... Read More

Moody’s Issues Approach for Rating Single-Family Rental Securities, Including Multi-Borrower Deals

More than a year after issuing ratings for the first-ever single-family rental securitization, Moody’s Investors Service has issued its finalized approach for rating such deals. The rating service is also prepared to rate multi-borrower SFR transactions, a type of deal that has yet to be issued. Moody’s analysis of SFR securitizations was previously based largely on the approach the rating service applies to large loan commercial MBS backed by multifamily housing. The new criteria from Moody’s include... Read More

Modified Loans Dropping Across the Board in Non-Agency Trusts as Sector Continues to Stabilize

Even though modified loans represent a larger share of non-agency MBS trusts these days, structured product analysts at Wells Fargo Securities have detected a notable year-over-year decrease in modifications. To be sure, modified loans have become an increasing portion of such trusts lately. “About 62 percent of subprime in terms of [unpaid principal balance] has been modified, 39 percent of option adjustable-rate mortgages, 31 percent of Alt A, and 19 percent of prime,” the analysts reported. “Modification activity, however, has slowed down... Read More

New Basel Risk Weights Not Expected to Have Much of an Impact on U.S. Banks

Risk weights established by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision for holdings of securitized assets won’t have much of an impact on U.S. banks, according to analysts at Barclays Capital. It’s unclear which banks the risk weights will be applied to and many U.S. banks have transitioned to similar methods to evaluate capital requirements for their holdings of MBS and ABS. The BCBS issued a revised framework for calculating risk weights on banks’ securitization exposures in December. The framework is set to take effect in certain countries beginning in 2018. It was issued to address concerns that banks were holding insufficient capital for certain securitized assets and to reduce the reliance on external ratings to derive securitization risk weights. Barclays said... Read More

SCOTUS Allows NCUA MBS Lawsuit to Proceed, JPMorgan Poised to Settle, Citigroup Gets Summons

The U.S. Supreme Court this week denied a petition by major banks to reject a lower court decision to allow a National Credit Union Administration MBS lawsuit to go forward. The SCOTUS chose not to hear the case, a lawsuit filed by the NCUA to recover damages suffered by five now-defunct federal credit unions as a result of investments in non-agency MBS sold by the banks. The suit is... Read More

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