The volume of new mortgage securities issued during the third quarter remained at historically high levels but was off slightly from the previous quarter, according a new analysis based on the Inside Mortgage Finance MBS Database. A total of $514.93 billion of mortgage-backed securities were issued during the third quarter, down 0.8 percent from the previous three-month period. That dropped year-to-date issuance 2.8 percent below the pace set during the first nine months of 2005... [Includes 2 charts]
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New guidance from federal banking regulators could dampen the red-hot market for nontraditional mortgages that now provide over half of the collateral flowing into non-agency MBS. Joint guidance issued by five banking agencies focuses mostly on loan underwriting and consumer protection issues in the origination of option ARMs and interest-only loans, lumped together with other kinds of Alt A product under the label “nontraditional mortgages.” Among the key recommendations is that...
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After growing steadily in late 2005 and early this year, the retained portfolios of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have been gradually eroded by tough competition from other investors and a slowing supply of new MBS coming to market. Fannie Mae reported $726.8 billion in its mortgage portfolio as of the end of August, down about $700 million for the year and off $7.0 billion from May, its highest level since the government-sponsored enterprise was forced to pare assets to shore up its capital position...
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A rally in Treasury bonds spurred mutual funds such as T. Rowe Price and Putnam Investments to trim their MBS holdings, but analysts say investors are concerned about more than just a new mortgage refinance boom. They’re also worried about credit quality. While Price and Putnam may be buying fewer lower-rated MBS these days, Pacific Investment Management Co. is still in the market. Under a new Pimco acquisition strategy, MBS account for 55 percent...
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New production of structured mortgage securities backed by agency pass-throughs fell sharply in the third quarter, according to a new ranking and analysis by Inside MBS & ABS. A total of $62.52 billion of agency-backed CMOs and REMICs were issued during the third quarter of this year, down 27.4 percent from the second quarter. That brought year-to-date issuance to $214.53 billion, a 4.2 percent drop from the same period in 2005...[Includes one chart and graph]
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Friedman Billings Ramsey recently revealed that it is closing its MBS underwriting unit, an operation that a spokesman described as a “non-core” part of FBR’s business. The move comes on the heels of a restructuring in which FBR split off its investment banking, institutional brokerage and research/asset management businesses into a new entity, FBR Capital Markets. The transaction was valued at $270 million and left FBR holding about 70 percent of the capital markets business...
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