Fitch

Nonbank mortgage-backed securities servicers increase their exposure to agency loans as the housing market distances itself from last decade's crash, according to Fitch Ratings.

With better-than-expected performance of the underlying mortgages, Fitch Ratings cut its loss projections for seasoned government-sponsored enterprise credit risk transfer deals.

The future secondary mortgage market entities will receive high investment grade ratings, even as there is no clarity on their scope or form, Fitch Ratings said.

With the exception of the troubled retail sector, delinquency rates across property types supporting commercial mortgage-backed securities were flat to declining in February compared with January.

Growing competition may prompt commercial mortgage-backed securities issuers to accept higher loan-to-value ratios in their deals.

The $401.2 million COLT 2018-1 is the eighth overall securitization of non-qualified jumbo mortgages issued by the Lone Star Funds affiliate.

The impending bankruptcy of Walter Investment Management Corp. should not affect its subsidiary Ditech Financial's capability to service securitized mortgages, Fitch Ratings said.

That’s an about-face from the bank’s previous transaction, completed in October, which was backed by fixed-rate mortgages, nearly half of which were underwritten to standards for purchase by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac.

The $785 million transaction, 2017-C41, is backed by a pool of 52 loans with an average balance of just $15.1 million, according to Kroll Bond Rating Agency; retail, hotel and office properties dominate the mix.

The deal, known as Bayview Opportunity Master Fund IVb Trust 2017-RT6, pools 2,745 current loans, of which nearly 58% have been clean for at least two years, and 55.2% have been modified.