Fitch

Life insurance companies increased their mortgage investments to levels higher than historical norms, creating more potential danger for their portfolios in the event of a real estate downturn, a Fitch Ratings report said.

Some commercial mortgage-backed securities due next year could have difficulty refinancing due to the recent Ridgecrest earthquake, according to a new Morningstar report.

The post-crisis operational improvements at both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have resulted in stronger mortgage loan performance, a Fitch Ratings report said.

Mortgages using alternative documentation like bank statements for underwriting performed stronger than expected, but uncertainty remains about their default rates in stressed environments, Fitch Ratings said.

While Ada and Canyon County, Idaho, home prices keep setting records, a credit rating service warns that Idaho home prices are among the most overvalued in the nation.

Fitch Ratings is considering making adjustments to property valuations used in sizing up private residential mortgage securitizations to better account for possible exposure to uninsured, catastrophic risks.

Delinquencies associated with the government-sponsored enterprises high loan-to-value ratio programs that target low-to-moderate income homebuyers are slightly better than expected, at least early on, according to Fitch.

Private-label mortgage securitizations with variable servicing fee arrangements could become more common going forward as issuers look to increase investor cash flow while reducing the loan servicer's economic exposure, Fitch said.

Commercial mortgages placed into special servicing grew last year, but default and foreclosure dollar volume fell as legacy loan resolutions outpaced newly distressed loans, according to Fitch Ratings.

The commercial mortgage-backed securities delinquency rate increased for the first time since October lead by a 31-basis-point rise in late payments for loans secured by retail properties, Fitch Ratings said.

Starter home inventory is letting up, and the growth in supply seems to be more of a market shift than a temporary change, according to Zillow.

Late payments on loans backing commercial mortgage bonds continued falling at the start of the year, due to strong new issuance volume and continued resolutions for precrisis loans by special servicers, according to Fitch Ratings.

Residential mortgage-backed securities servicers are better able to weather a downturn and the resulting loan defaults today versus before the crisis because of their investments in technology and regulatory compliance, Fitch Ratings said.

Loans in commercial mortgage-backed securities originated after 2009 by nonbank lenders have a significantly higher default rate than those originated by banks, a Fitch Ratings report said.

Cascade Financial Services has become the only manufactured housing loan-focused servicer currently rated by Fitch, adding signs of a rebound in factory-built home financing that could lead to new private securitization.

Rating agencies are sparring over a new feature in a private-label RMBS that upends the relationship between senior and sub bondholders.

Wells Fargo’s first private-label mortgage securitization since the financial crisis doesn’t break any new ground — and that’s probably the point.

Commercial mortgage-backed securities delinquency rates are likely to continue to decrease for the rest of the year, as new issuances outpace maturing loans and precrisis loans continued to get resolved by special servicers, Fitch Ratings said.

The dollar volume of private-label residential mortgage-backed securities issuance this year is the highest it has been since the Great Recession, despite a decline in new originations.

Intensifying margin pressure could spur another wave of cost-cutting at nonbank mortgage lenders, unless other strategies, like consolidation or a mortgage servicing book that could increase in value, offset it.