S&P Sees Jump in High-LTV Deals

Issuance of securities backed by home loans with high loan-to-value ratios increased substantially in the third quarter from last year's level, according to Standard & Poor's. S&P, which rated all the high-LTV deals, said $1.78 billion of mortgage-backed securities backed by 125% LTV product was issued in the third quarter, up from $1.1 billion in the third quarter of 1999. GMAC Mortgage and its affiliate Residential Funding Corp. continued to be the dominant issuers of MBS backed by high-LTV loans. The rating agency's website address is http://www.standardandpoors.com/ratings.