New production of mortgage securities fell for the second quarter in a row during the first three months of 2006, according to a new analysis by Inside MBS & ABS. After hitting a cyclical peak of $614.98 billion during the third quarter of 2005, new MBS issuance slipped to $572.88 billion in the final period of last year and dropped another 11.5 percent in the first quarter of 2006. The $507.24 billion of MBS issued… [Two data tables included]
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The booming mortgage market of recent years has attracted untold numbers of people hoping to get a piece of the action. And opportunities were bountiful all the way from primary market originations to investing in the burgeoning array of new MBS products. Now, as originations slow and profit-margins are squeezed, a new breed of MBS investors are butting heads with lenders, according to Stephen Ornstein, a partner at Thacher, Proffitt & Wood. “The secondary market…
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Proposed guidance on nontraditional mortgages needs to do more to protect the secondary market and ensure that loan buyers aren’t held liable for the actions of originators, a Wall Street trade group has warned. The warning came in a comment letter filed by the Bond Market Association in response to a proposal, issued in December by the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council, which would set new underwriting, marketing, disclosure and consumer protection standards for…
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The small but growing market for non-agency MBS backed by so-called “scratch and dent” mortgages is expected to get a boost this year and next – thanks in large measure to rising interest rates and a deteriorating housing market. That was the view expressed this week by MBS market players at a Housing Finance Summit put on by the Opal Financial Group in Miami. …
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A new report by the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta endorses proposals to cap the retained portfolios of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to limit the systemic risk it says the government-sponsored enterprises pose. At this point in the stalled political debate over this issue, however, it’s questionable whether more research will move either side. …
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A sluggish $57.18 billion of new structured mortgage securities backed by agency pass-through collateral were issued during the first quarter of 2006, down 19.6 percent from the previous period. New agency-backed REMIC volume for the first three months of the year was also down 21.3 percent from the same period in 2005, a new Inside MBS & ABS analysis shows. Freddie Mac remained the largest issuer in the market, although its $28.94 billion in first-quarter… [One data table included]
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