There’s a sharp divide in the mortgage industry regarding the prospects for originations of non-qualified mortgages. Smaller nonbanks that focus on such products have high hopes for the non-QM sector while larger lenders have low expectations. Justin Mahoney, a senior portfolio manager at SG Capital Partners, a non-QM lender, noted that the nonprime mortgage originations market is the only lending sector that hasn’t recovered since the financial crisis. “It represents a real growth opportunity ...

Lending units affiliated with Angel Oak Companies reported a record $512.0 million in originations of non-qualified mortgages for the second quarter of 2018, putting the nonbank on pace to top $1.0 billion in production this year. Angel Oak’s non-QM production increased by 52.0 percent from the previous quarter and nearly doubled its originations of a year ago. Angel Oak’s various production entities added 104 employees during the second quarter for a total of 527 staff members ...

Annaly Capital Management plans to include a much higher share of non-qualified mortgages in its latest non-agency mortgage-backed security than the first deal issued by the real estate investment trust this year. Non-QMs will account for 45.4 percent of the $383.5 million issuance, according to presale reports by Fitch Ratings and Kroll Bond Rating Agency. Annaly’s first MBS was largely stocked with loans that had seasoned for at least 10 years – well before the QM rule came along ...

Redwood Trust plans to raise $103.13 million with the sale of 6.25 million shares of common stock. The sale closed this week, though the underwriters of the transaction have 30 days to purchase up to an additional 937,500 shares of Redwood’s common stock, which could provide the real estate investment trust with up to $116.9 million in net proceeds after transaction expenses. The sale follows an offering of convertible senior notes in Redwood in June with a principal amount of $200.0 million ...

Issuance of non-agency mortgage-backed securities reached a third straight post-crisis quarterly record during the recently completed April-June cycle, according to a new ranking and analysis by Inside Nonconforming Markets. A total of $10.03 billion of non-agency MBS backed by new jumbo and expanded-credt originations was issued in the second quarter. The previous quarterly record was $6.28 billion in the first quarter of 2018. And in ... [Includes one data chart]

A handful of issuers of non-agency mortgage-backed securities not rated by Fitch Ratings were called out in a report by the rating service regarding representations and warranties. The report released at the end of June detailed how reps, warrants and enforcement provisions for various issuers compare with a “full” rep-and-warrant framework established by Fitch. The rating service includes an assessment of reps and warrants for all of the non-agency MBS the firm rates but the report also ...

An affiliate of Verus Mortgage Capital is set to issue what will be the largest post-crisis nonprime MBS to date. The planned $489.6 million issuance will top a $426.2 million deal issued by Lone Star Funds in September. The types of mortgages in the latest Verus MBS are similar to those in a $249.0 million deal the firm issued in January, though the average loan balance in the new MBS is somewhat larger. Mortgages in the new deal have an average unpaid principal balance of ...

Redwood Trust is preparing to issue an expanded-prime mortgage-backed security that will be somewhat smaller than others issued by the real estate investment trust. Sequoia Mortgage Trust 2018-CH3 will be a $417.0 million issuance, according to a presale report by Kroll Bond Rating Agency. In May, Redwood issued a $520.5 million expanded-prime deal and the firm issued a $444.3 million MBS in February. Mortgages in the deals are largely similar and the pending issuance has ...

Originations of higher-priced conventional mortgages increased by 20.1 percent on an annual basis to $36.01 billion in 2017, according to a new ranking and analysis by Inside Nonconforming Markets of data from the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act. Higher-priced mortgages are loans that have an annual percentage rate higher than a threshold for the “average prime offer rate” on a comparable mortgage. First-lien mortgages with an APR ... [Includes two data charts]

In a recent comment letter submitted to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Mortgage Bankers Association argued for changes to regulations in an effort to boost originations of non-agency mortgages. The trade group cited problems with Appendix Q of the ability-to-repay rule and called for the government-sponsored enterprise “patch” for qualified mortgages to be extended to jumbo mortgages. Appendix Q sets QM standards for non-agency mortgages that aren’t eligible for sale to the GSEs or government-insured