October was the busiest month of the year for non-agency MBS issuance. Activity has been limited thus far in November, though there are plenty of deals in the pipeline.
Attendance at the ABS East conference hit another record this week, with investors showing strong demand for structured finance products. Issuance is expected to remain elevated, helped by interest rate moves.
Issuance of MBS with non-qualified mortgages is growing even as insurance companies increase their purchases of non-QMs as whole loans. Investor demand for the products looks likely to remain strong.
The rating service proposed more closely aligning its criteria for rating U.S. residential MBS with how it assesses residential MBS in other countries. The likely result: no downgrades and many upgrades.