Redwood Trust has approved 185 originators to sell Choice loans directly…

But the non-agency jumbo market saw a healthy 18.6 percent increase in originations…

“We’ve gotten wind that we could see at least one other large money center bank enter the securitization markets,” said Christopher Abate of Redwood Trust…

Deliveries of conforming-jumbo loans into mortgage-backed securities slowed during the second quarter of 2017, despite the solid increase in originations of non-agency jumbo loans, according to a new Inside Mortgage Finance analysis and ranking. During the second quarter, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae securitized $27.62 billion of single-unit mortgages that had loan amounts exceeding the $424,100 conforming loan limit. That was down 4.6 percent from the first three months of the year, a smaller drop than the 6.9 percent decline in total Fannie, Freddie, FHA and VA activity. But the non-agency jumbo market saw...[Includes three data tables]

Redwood Trust has seen strong demand from borrowers and correspondent lenders for its “expanded prime” program that the aggregator introduced last year. The real estate investment trust’s Choice products allow for somewhat looser underwriting than the super-prime mortgages that have dominated the jumbo market after the financial crisis. The Choice program was introduced in April 2016. Volume has increased relatively quickly and could top $1.0 billion this year. Officials say...

As IMFnews went to press, Mangione could not be reached for comment. He currently heads Fort Schuyler Advisors...

Redwood Trust worked for years to revive the jumbo MBS market by issuing deals with super-prime mortgages. Now, the firm is shifting its focus somewhat to “expanded prime” mortgages that have slightly looser underwriting standards. The $316.49 million Sequoia Mortgage Trust 2017-CH-1 is the first MBS from Redwood to deviate from super-prime standards. The deal received preliminary AAA ratings this week from Kroll Bond Rating Agency and Moody’s Investors Service. The average combined loan-to-value ratio of the mortgages in the MBS is...

The new security is backed solely by loans from Caliber...

Meanwhile, United Wholesale Mortgage CEO Mat Ishbia said the nation’s largest wholesaler is not cancelling any closings because of Irma, at least not yet...

Fun fact: Ocwen is one of the sponsors of the event where CFPB Director Richard Cordray will be speaking…