GSE loan limits increase by 7.4% for 2021; non-agency forbearance rises.

Jumbo lending remained flat in the third quarter. However, the sector lost market share as lenders focused on GSE refis. Chase overtook Wells as the top jumbo producer. (Includes data chart.)

Chimera is generating attractive returns by packaging jumbos, GSE-eligible investment-property mortgages and seasoned loans into non-agency MBS. The REIT continues to avoid non-QMs.

Loan limit projections for 2021; non-agency forbearance declines; Sterling takes losses on non-QM buybacks; Anworth's MBS plans whither; Griffin launches jumbo product; Citadel offering three-month bank statement loans; BBVA offering Prosper-powered HELOC.

First Republic Bank increased its originations by 15.8% in the third quarter and Flagstar Bank posted a 33.3% increase in jumbo lending compared to 2Q20.

Redwood locked $2.1 billion of jumbos during the third quarter though it only acquired $176 million. The REIT is issuing MBS and selling loans to banks.

Prepayment rates on prime non-agency MBS inched above 40% in September compared to roughly 25% at the beginning of the year.

For the first time since 2013, rates on jumbos have moved above those on GSE loans. The reason: the Federal Reserve’s massive purchase of agency MBS.

Some $1.64 billion of expanded-credit MBS and $1.06 billion of prime non-agency MBS hit the market in the past two weeks. The expanded-credit deals were stocked with older loans.

Maxex has aggregated more than $10 billion worth of product between its founding in 2016 and September of this year. More than $3 billion flowed through the firm’s exchange in the third quarter alone.