Mortgage brokers played a somewhat diminished role in jumbo mortgage originations during the third quarter, according to an exclusive Inside Nonconforming Markets analysis and jumbo lender profile. Survey data from Inside Mortgage Finance show that brokers were responsible for just 3.9 percent of jumbo originations in the third quarter, down from 4.5 percent in the previous period. The retail (79.8 percent) and correspondent (16.3 percent) shares were ... [Includes one data chart]

FHA reverse mortgage lenders capped the third quarter of 2016 with a 2.2 percent volume increase over the previous quarter, ending the first nine months with $11.0 billion in new Home Equity Conversion Mortgage loans. The year-over-year story, however, was different, as nine-month originations fell 10.5 percent from the same period last year. Purchase HECMs comprised the bulk of originations, 86.3 percent. Unlike in FY 2015, when the Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund’s healthy HECM portfolio helped pushed the capital reserve ratio above the statutory 2.0 percent requirement, the portfolio appeared to be in bad shape in FY 2016. The fiscal 2016 actuarial audit of the MMIF projected a negative $7.7 billion economic value for the HECM program, dramatically down from last year’s estimated $6.8 billion. Auditors attributed the decline to adverse effects of “incorporating deeper ... [Chart]

Home-equity lending cooled off in the third quarter of 2016 as consumers took advantage of low interest rates to refinance rather than draw down more second-mortgage debt. Lenders originated an estimated $50.7 billion of home-equity loans during the third quarter, including home-equity lines of credit and closed-end second mortgages. Although that was down 5.2 percent from the second quarter, it still marked the second highest three-month volume since the housing market collapse in 2008. And depository institutions, the dominant lenders in the HEL market, reported...[Includes three data tables]

The Structured Finance Industry Group this week put more flesh on the bones of its proposed deal-agent role in future non-agency MBS and introduced a plan for improved communications among MBS investors. The fifth edition of SFIG’s RMBS 3.0 Green Paper adds recommendations on data standardization, enforcement mechanisms for breaches of deal terms and materiality standards. The new proposal on bondholder communications was drafted...

New non-agency MBS issued in 2017 will likely include more diversified collateral and feature some structural changes, analysts at Moody’s Investors Service said in a new report this week. The rating service projected that non-agency prime jumbo volume will remain steady in 2017, while issuers will continue to explore non-traditional asset types, such as re-performing and non-performing loans, reverse mortgages, non-qualified mortgages and nonprime transactions. “Although prime jumbo deals will start to include loans with slightly lower FICOs and higher loan-to-value ratios than those loans included in 2016 transactions, collateral quality will remain...

The one weak spot in the mortgage market during the third quarter was in traditional jumbo originations, a trend that was reinforced by a significant increase in production of agency mortgages in high-cost markets that exceeded $417,000. An estimated $101.0 billion of non-agency jumbo home loans were originated during the third quarter, down 1.9 percent from the previous quarter. At the same time, production of conforming-jumbo mortgages – loans greater than $417,000 that were securitized by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae – jumped 27.7 percent from the second to the third quarter. Some of the disparity is...[Includes three data tables]

Standards proposed by the Structured Finance Industry Group for disclosures of representations and warranties on new non-agency mortgage-backed securities are likely to put a burden on conduits and other aggregators that pool mortgages from scores of originators. The Wall Street group recently released the fourth edition of its RMBS 3.0 “green papers,” which aim to revive issuance of non-agency MBS by making reforms that will attract investors. The latest green paper focused on ...

New loan limits for the government-sponsored enterprises in 2017 won’t have much of an impact on jumbo originations, according to an analysis by Inside Nonconforming Markets. The Federal Housing Finance Agency announced last week that the baseline conforming loan limit for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will increase in 2017, which will also boost the GSEs’ high-cost loan limit. The baseline conforming loan limit will increase to $424,100 in 2017, up from the $417,000 level it has ...

Most of the top 30 servicers of jumbo mortgages increased their servicing portfolios during the third quarter, according to a new Inside Nonconforming Markets ranking. The volume of jumbo mortgages outstanding rose to an estimated $892.4 billion as of the end of September, up 1.7 percent from June and up 10.2 percent from a year ago. Wells Fargo remained the top jumbo servicer, with a $275.1 billion portfolio. That was up 1.1 percent compared to the second quarter ... [Includes one data chart]

American International Group is preparing to resume issuing non-agency mortgage-backed securities, according to officials at the insurance company. The planned issuance differs significantly from the subprime MBS AIG issued before the financial crisis. Douglas Dachille, an executive vice president and CIO, said the firm is working to “rebalance its exposure to residential mortgages” after AIG’s sale of United Guaranty, a private mortgage insurer. During a recent presentation to investors ...