Although primary-market originations of adjustable-rate mortgages dropped sharply in the first quarter of 2007, ARMs still made up a substantial 39.3 percent of the collateral backing mortgage securities issued early this year... [Includes three charts]
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The top credit rating services generally had a positive reaction to the Securities and Exchange Commission’s May 23 vote to adopt a final rule implementing the Credit Rating Agency Reform Act of 2006, a law designed in part to increase competition in the market for...
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Countrywide Financial took a large hit to its earnings in the first quarter of this year from non-investment grade subprime mortgage-backed securities on its books. The lender/issuer said investors were wary of the residuals in the first quarter but pricing looks...
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Thrift institutions held $237.16 billion of mortgage securities on their books at the end of the first quarter, a modest increase of 2.5 percent from the end of last year, according to a new analysis of call report data by Inside MBS & ABS... [Includes two charts]
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After years of double-digit home price growth, home prices for properties backing subprime mortgages barely moved last year, according to Fitch Ratings. This could cause major performance problems for subprime MBS because default rates are highly...
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Fannie Mae single-family mortgage securities issued late this week will have to conform to the government-sponsored enterprise’s new MBS master trust agreement. Fannie announced the new master trust agreement late last year, and in March stipulated that...
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