New issuance of jumbo and Alt A mortgage securities sank 58 percent during the fourth quarter of 2007, hitting the lowest quarterly production level since the second quarter of 2001, according to a new ranking and analysis by Inside MBS & ABS... [Includes three charts]
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The Federal Reserve’s efforts to stimulate the economy by cutting interest rates could be a de facto rate freeze on adjustable rate mortgages that are coming to their reset dates, some market participants suggest. However, servicers will still have to...
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Investors continue to avoid non-agency MBS and some suggest only a fundamental change in securitization structures will restore investor confidence. At the American Securitization Forum’s 2008 conference this week in Las Vegas, it was clear that investors...
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Standard & Poor’s this week announced a lengthy agenda of new procedures designed to boost industry confidence in its ratings, including new disclosures and enhanced internal procedures to guard against conflicts of interest. On ratings themselves, the company...
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Senate Republicans showed they would not be bowled over by proponents of a temporary increase in conforming loan limits for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, first stalling an economic stimulus package on the Senate floor and then raising concerns during a...
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Freddie Mac plans to launch a multifamily MBS program this year, if it gets approval from the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight. “Most of the time, what we do with our multifamily loans is we hold them on our books, and now we’re talking about doing...
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The subprime contagion continued to infect bond insurers this week, with another round of ratings downgrades and more government scrutiny and criticism fueling a fresh drive on Capitol Hill for greater regulatory oversight. Rep. Paul Kanjorski, D-PA, chairman...
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The non-agency MBS market remained in the deep freeze in January, with just $10.82 billion in new issuance for the month. That was up slightly from December, but over half of the volume for the month came from a portfolio securitization... [Includes one chart]
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