Moody's

The notes are backed by home improvement installment loans originated by approved dealers in Foundation Finance Company's network.

The credit rating company cited concerns over the lenders' reliance on uninsured deposit funding and unrealized losses in their asset portfolios. 

The meager increase suggests the largest boost in inventory possible would likely still leave the backlog of homes on the market at historic lows.

But existing deals are likely to experience issues resulting from higher defaults, faster prepayment speeds.

Bondholders could see principal losses if, due to the way the documents are worded, the rate is frozen at the last published amount.

The measures currently ensuring mortgage companies have sufficient cash to cover advances aren't necessarily sustainable, warns Ted Tozer, a senior fellow at the Milken Institute and a former government official.

The mortgage insurer is receiving $528 million of coverage in the event of defaults in a $44 billion loan pool.

Government-sponsored enterprise reform could be one hurdle to future innovation.

The company could be seeking a cash infusion to handle market difficulties ahead, but representatives are keeping mum on the matter.

The agency stated it’s concerned that securitization payment cash flow for the notes could be disrupted by deals’ stop-advance features that limit the period in which servicers must cover principal and interest payments on delinquent loans to MBS noteholders.

Mortgage lenders are preparing for the biggest wave of delinquencies in history. If the plan to buy time works, they may avert an even worse crisis: Mass foreclosures and mortgage market mayhem.

Default rates for prime jumbo mortgages will increase, but a strong economy and rising home prices will bail most borrowers and lenders out, Moody's said.

The outlook for hotels and suburban offices is still questionable, but the prognosis for other property types in the securitized commercial real estate market remains fairly strong, according to Moody's Investors Service.

Because automated valuation models have not been subjected to a stressed housing market, their increased use holds negatives and positives for residential mortgage-backed securities credit quality, a Moody's report said.

Housing finance agencies reported increased demand for their loan products, but at the same time the inventory shortage constrains activity and drives them to work with other public entities to find solutions, Moody's said.

Housing finance reform could give banks an advantage and challenge nonbanks if it reduces Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's involvement in the mortgage market, according to Moody's Investors Service.

Being too dependent on the automated underwriting tools created by the government-sponsored enterprises to originate loans underlying private-label mortgage-backed securitizations could negatively affect their credit quality, a report from Moody's said.

The government shutdown could affect mortgage origination credit quality as lenders miss some red flags normally found using data that is not currently available, according to Moody's.

Liquidity, products and pricing are the main concerns for the secondary mortgage market in 2019.

Online competition has threatened brick-and-mortar retail, but as holiday shopping surveys this year show, certain businesses in the sector are still attractive to consumers and commercial mortgage lenders.