Although issuance of residential mortgage-backed securities remains down from a year ago, the number of nontraditional deals is continuing to grow, according to a report from Moody's Investors Service.
In the fourth quarter, there were 28 RMBS deals, up from 22 the quarter prior, Moody's said Wednesday. The increase was led by RMBS deals in the jumbo sector.
Overall though, prime jumbo issuance remained low in 2016 — a reflection of unfavorable economics, higher post-election interest rates and the exit of several issuers from the market, Moody's said.
Meanwhile, a range of deals with varied credit risk dominated RMBS issuance last year, including government-sponsored enterprise credit risk transfers, seasoned performing and reperforming transactions and nonprime securitizations.
In particular, nonprime securitizations emerged in the fourth quarter, including an issuance from Caliber Home Loans in December. Social Finance also led the first marketplace lending RMBS securitization last quarter.
