Fitch: Jumbo RMBS Late-Pays Rise, Respite in Subprime

The latest monthly data from Fitch on U.S. jumbo, prime-credit residential mortgage-backed securities show serious delinquencies continue to rise while the much higher subprime credit delinquency rate has dropped slightly. In March, late payments of 60-plus days on prime jumbo RMBS rose for 34 consecutive months and passed the 10% mark while subprime delinquencies of this type have dropped slightly month-to-month to 46.3% from 46.9% but remained far above the 39.8% rate seen a year ago. "The improvement in subprime delinquencies may be nothing more than a seasonal anomaly of tax refunds being utilized to help borrowers catch up on mortgage payments," said Fitch managing director Vincent Barberio in the rating agency's Performance Metrics report. In the jumbo sector, California continues to have the highest volume of prime loans outstanding and its 60-plus-day delinquencies during the month were 11.8%, up from 11.6% the previous month. This represents about 44% of the outstanding jumbo market, according to Fitch.