MIAC Selling $536M Alt-A Whole Loan Portfolio

Mortgage Industry Advisory Corp. is auctioning off a $536 million portfolio of performing alt-A whole loans on behalf of what it calls an "east coast money center bank." The New York-based advisory firm declined to name the seller. "It may come as a surprise to some people but the portfolio is totally performing," said Dan Thomas, managing director of assets sales for MIAC. The servicing rights are included along with the whole loans. According to the offering circular, the portfolio has an average loan-to-value ratio of almost 78%. The average FICO score is 707 and the coupon is just over 7%. The average loan size is $376,075. Over the past year the alt-A market has suffered higher delinquencies but not in the range of subprime lates, which are north of 30%, according to figures compiled by the Quarterly Data Report. Alt-A loans are "nonprime" in nature but have higher FICO scores than A- to D loans. In years past some lenders considered 'stated-income' loans to be in the category of alt-A. The bid deadline is Friday, October 24.