RMBS

Due diligence firm American Mortgage Consultants has purchased Meridian Asset Services as part of its continuing efforts to expand through acquisition or organic growth.

Acting Ginnie Mae President Michael Bright will leave his post on Jan. 16 and will no longer seek confirmation to be the permanent head of the mortgage secondary market agency.

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.

The expected decline in conventional mortgage volume may open the door for more non-qualified mortgage lending as secondary market investors seek new opportunities to deploy capital, says Tom Millon, CEO of Capital Markets Cooperative.

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

Next year is unlikely to offer relief from higher rates or housing supply shortages, according to the consensus forecast from 24 of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association's member firms.

As home value appreciation slowed, gains in home equity for the third quarter fell to the lowest level in two years, according to CoreLogic's homeowner equity report.

Private-label residential mortgage-backed securitization is approaching a post-crisis high, according to Kroll Bond Rating Agency.

A National Fair Housing Alliance-led group plans to amend and refile a recently dismissed complaint against Deutsche Bank, Ocwen Financial Corp. and Altisource Portfolio Solutions alleging racial discrimination in property preservation.

Subprime originations are climbing in multiple consumer loan categories, including mortgages, but the increase is much smaller in the home loan sector than it is in other markets, according to TransUnion.