At Information Management Network’s ABS East conference this week in Orlando, the consensus view seemed to be that the MBS market won’t get back to “normal” until late 2008 or 2009. “Investors are spooked,” said Mark Fleming, chief economist at First American...
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The House Financial Services Committee this week approved mortgage consumer protection legislation that would establish a federal preemption for the MBS market, but the fast-moving bill would have a significant impact on the kinds of loans flowing into...
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MBS investors, ratings services, issuers and underwriters are engaged in an industry-wide mudslinging contest to assign blame for the mess the market is in. Rating stability was a major concern raised by investors at this week’s ABS East conference...
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As important as better loan underwriting is to the recovery of the non-agency MBS market, industry experts at this week’s ABS East conference say there’s a parallel need for more transparency. “We need to improve data quality and underwriting quality,” said...
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The chief regulator of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is less than pleased with the New York attorney general’s decision to subpoena the two government-sponsored enterprises and suggested that the state agency may not have a very good grasp of the mortgage...
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Commercial MBS issuance declined by 25 percent from the second to the third quarter, but production remained comfortably above year-ago levels. A total of $195.6 billion of commercial MBS were issued during the first nine months... [Includes two charts]
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Citigroup and Merrill Lynch have pushed out their top executives after massive, multi-billion-dollar writedowns due to losses on subprime mortgages. And both companies got hit with ratings downgrades too, as the mortgage market meltdown shows no signs of...
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New issuance of non-agency MBS fell to its lowest monthly total since April 2002, sinking to just $23.72 billion in October, according to the Inside Mortgage Finance MBS Database. That represented a 29 percent decline from already... [Includes one chart]
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