FHFA Director Bill Pulte cited massive price hikes on FICO scores in recent years as the reason for making VS4 widely available through the GSEs.

The deal is being issued with Redwood’s Sequoia shelf name and continues the numbering convention seen with prior issuance from Redwood.

“Market sentiment was leaning toward a rate hike at the next Fed meeting, but this could give the Fed pause in hiking rates as they look to convene this month,” said Cody Echols, a capital markets technology advisor at Mortgage Capital Trading.