Mortgage bankers that are members of the Lenders One cooperative funded $90 billion of single-family loans in 2010, a 17% jump from the prior year, and its best showing ever.
Moreover, cooperative CEO Scott Stern is reporting that secondary market investors are become much more amenable to buying jumbo loans these days. "We have spoken to several buyers who are getting back into the non-agency jumbo space," said Stern. "We hope that the market is re-emerging."
However, Stern is concerned that pending federal risk retention rules could curb this new interest unless there is an exemption for high quality non-agency jumbo loans.
If securitizers are required to hold 5% of the credit risk, the "market will dry up," Stern told National Mortgage News.
Based in St. Louis, the cooperative had 154 members at the end of 2009 and originated $77 billion in loans that year. Today, it boasts 180 members, mostly independent mortgage banking firms and some community banks.
"We added 36 members in 2010, which is our third consecutive year of having over 35 new members join," Stern said.
