In case you missed the story on the National Mortgage News website, here's a headline for you: Some firms have the ability to make $10,000 per loan on HARP 2.0 loans. A nice chunk of that profit estimate is tied to secondary market pricing. In short, Wall Street investors believe that HARP 2.0 loans have a very low likelihood of prepaying. Why? Answer: because the borrower is underwater or nearly so, but chances are he or she will keep paying, hence the secondary market premium. But another hitch is underwriting. We're told that some megabanks cranking out HARP loans are basically rubberstamping them – which means they're saving a ton of money on underwriting costs. As the old saying goes: make hay while the sun shines.
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