Demand for non-agency products, including non-qualified mortgages, is growing among real estate investment trusts. A number of REITs have ramped up their investments in the non-agency sector, with some issuing mortgage-backed securities. Annaly Capital Management, the largest mortgage REIT, had $525.0 million in residential whole loans at the end of September, up from $392.0 million a year ago. The REIT didn’t disclose the total unpaid principal balance of its whole-loan holdings ...

The latest jumbo mortgage-backed security from JPMorgan Chase differs significantly from others deals issued by the company. The $459.3 million MBS is stocked with mortgages that have relatively high loan-to-value ratios. The average combined LTV ratio for loans in JPMorgan Mortgage Trust 2018-LTV1 is 86.2 percent and nearly every mortgage has an LTV ratio greater than 79.0 percent. The average combined LTV ratio on prime non-agency MBS issued in the third quarter of 2018 was ...

The non-qualified mortgage share of Impac Mortgage Holding’s total originations has increased significantly in the past year. The nonbank lender has enhanced its marketing efforts for such loans as the volume of conventional refinances has declined. Non-QMs accounted for 40.9 percent of Impac’s $853.2 million total originations in the third quarter of 2018 compared with 11.5 percent of $2.08 billion of originations a year ago. Impac’s non-QM originations increased 45.9 percent to $349.2 million ...

Ocwen Financial plans to boost its servicing portfolio and possibly originate nonprime mortgages now that it has acquired PHH Corp. Ocwen is by far the largest servicer of subprime mortgages but the nonbank to this point hasn’t focused its origination efforts on the portfolio. It has also been under servicing-acquisition constraints set by various regulators for years due to issues with its servicing practices. “We’re excited about the opportunity to resume growth activities, as permitted by ...

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac continue to let their holdings of nonprime mortgages gradually taper off, according to a new analysis by Inside Nonconforming Markets. The government-sponsored enterprises held a total of $91.01 billion of nonprime mortgages at the end of September, largely in purchased/guaranteed loans originated before the financial crisis. The holdings were down by 21.2 percent on an annual basis. In the past year, Fannie has ... [Includes one data chart]

Waterfall Asset Management announced that it launched a residential mortgage conduit to focus on partnering with lenders to originate proprietary mortgage products under flow agreements. The conduit aims to purchase prime and near-prime mortgages with relatively high loan-to-value ratios. An affiliate of Caliber Home Loans is preparing to issue a $354.5 million nonprime mortgage-backed security, according to presale reports by DBRS and Fitch Ratings ... [Includes four briefs]

Trends in underwriting expanded-credit mortgages differ from what’s happening in the broader market, according to a new analysis by Inside Nonconforming Markets. Lenders have generally started to loosen standards for debt-to-income ratios and loan-to-value ratios as originations decline and the product mix shifts from refinances to purchase mortgages. However, in the expanded-credit market, credit characteristics were largely stagnant in the past year ... [Includes one data chart]

A test of the jumbo mortgage-backed security market by Wells Fargo went well enough that the bank plans to regularly issue deals after avoiding the market for years. “Based on the positive response from investors to Wells Fargo’s recent private residential MBS transaction and given acceptable market conditions, we expect to do periodic offerings of private residential MBS going forward,” said Tom Goyda, a spokesman for the bank. The $441.3 million issuance from Wells that closed ...

New Residential plans to be a consistent issuer of mortgage-backed securities with non-qualified mortgages and the real estate investment trust is not just looking for loans from its recently acquired New Penn Financial. The first non-QM MBS from New Residential closed this week. All of the loans in the deal were originated by New Penn, an originator New Residential acquired in early July. Michael Nierenberg, chairman, president and CEO of New Residential, said the REIT is ...

An affiliate of Verus Mortgage Capital revised the structure of a planned non-agency mortgage-backed security, opting for a more traditional approach after initially planning to test a unique variation. The planned closing date for the $442.3 million issuance was also pushed back. When presale reports for Verus Securitization Trust 2018-3 were published in mid-October, the deal was structured with an initial pro rata structure that would shift to a sequential structure. The MBS ...