Real estate investment trusts that specialize in the residential MBS market held $232.44 billion of agency and non-agency MBS at the end of March, according to a new Inside MBS & ABS analysis. The MBS holdings of 16 top mortgage REITs were down 0.3 percent from the fourth quarter and off 11.9 percent from March 2015. However, several REITs boosted their positions during early 2016 and the industry is slated to see a major merger of two firms ... [Includes one data chart]
Read More
Issuance of jumbo MBS has fallen off since mortgage disclosure requirements set by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau took effect in October. While the slowdown in jumbo MBS issuance has been blamed on TRID, there still appears to be plenty of demand from secondary market investors for jumbo whole loans. Redwood Trust’s jumbo origination and sales volume has been humming along without much impact from the CFPB’s combined Truth in Lending Act and ...
Read More
Draft standards proposed by the Structured Finance Industry Group to address TRID mortgage disclosure issues adequately address the risks posed to non-agency MBS, according to Moody’s Investors Service. The rating service published a detailed analysis of SFIG’s draft proposal this week. On March 18, SFIG proposed a draft standardized approach to the scope of review for exceptions to the combined Truth in Lending Act and Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act ...
Read More
The track record of U.S. re-performing loan MBS transactions rated by Fitch Ratings is pretty much what the ratings service expected, and somewhat better than other deals that were not rated, analysts at Fitch said in a new report. “While still very early, the rated transactions issued since 2014 have performed within initial expectations, reflecting positive selection of the borrowers included in the mortgage pools, extensive up-front diligence and supportive transaction structures,” ...
Read More
Marketplace lender Social Finance this month received seller/servicer approvals from Fannie Mae, but it remains to be seen just how active it will be in the secondary mortgage market. According to a spokesman for the privately held “SoFi,” the nonbank is now funding roughly $100 million per month in non-agency jumbos. According to firms that have done business with SoFi, it has sold the loans to OneWest Bank and Wells Fargo. To date, the online lender has yet to issue any ...
Read More
Today’s reduced liquidity is here to stay because of increased regulation and the unprecedented dominance of the Federal Reserve in the agency MBS market, said the Urban Institute. The top five dealers were responsible for about 55 percent of agency-MBS transactions in 2006, but today’s top five account for approximately 80 percent, Urban Institute analysts said. According to Inside MBS & ABS estimates, the Fed held 27.3 percent of outstanding agency single-family MBS ...
Read More
The CMBS market is a few quarters away from seeing the post-crisis refinance wave crest at levels above $12 billion, which would be double the recent pace of conduit loan originations, according to a new report from Moody’s Investors Service. But other analysts wonder if pending risk-retention requirements, a rate hike surprise from the Federal Reserve or other unanticipated developments will put a damper on recently restarted new issuance. Regarding the former, ...
Read More
A New York state court dismissed two mortgage repurchase actions filed by the government against Morgan Stanley, while Bank of America agreed to another settlement related to non-agency MBS issued by Countrywide Financial. Last month, Justice Marcy Friedman of the New York Supreme Court dismissed two residential MBS lawsuits filed by the Federal Housing Finance Agency against Morgan Stanley ABS Capital I Inc. and Morgan Stanley Mortgage Capital ...
Read More
Single-family rental properties are still enjoying a downward trend in vacancies as well as low delinquencies, according to a new report from Morningstar Credit Ratings. However, with more leases set to expire in coming months, vacancy rates may begin to increase. “Vacancy rates have trended lower for the sixth consecutive month,” Morningstar analysts said in their new report. “However, we may see a reversal in this trend in the coming months, given ...
Read More